— A PIONEER. 
TOBACCO MERCHANT 
__IN THE ORIENT 


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DUKE - UNIVERSITY - PUBLICATIONS 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 
IN THE ORIENT 


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EARLY BRANDS OF CIGARETTES AND COmnmus 
THAT PURCHASED T38 M. iGeneaese 240) 


A PIONEER ‘TOBACCO 
MERCHANT IN 
THE ORIENT 


BY 
JAMES A. THOMAS 


DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS 
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA 
1928 


; Copyricut, 1928 
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Duke University 


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THE SEEMAN PRESS 
DURHAM, N. C. 
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Printed in the United States of America 


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This Book is 
Affectionately Dedicated 
to 
My Wire. 
DOROTHY QUINCY READ THOMAS 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


I. 


it, 


III. 


VIII. 


I ENTER THE TOBACCO BUSINESS 
MY PROBLEM IN CHINA 


JAMES B. DUKE AND THE TOBACCO 
BUSINESS IN THE FAR EAST 


SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 
CHINESE BUSINESS METHODS 
CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 

SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 

SOME CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS 
IN SOUTHERN ASIA 

ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 

WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS IN 
THE ORIENT 


INDEX 


PAGE 


107 


169 


207 


227 


249 


282 


311 


333 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


EARLY BRANDS AND COINS THAT 
PURCHASED THEM 


JAMES B. DUKE (c. 1897) 

WATER PIPES 

EXPERIMENTAL TOBACCO FIELD 
SMOKING CIGARETTES 

MR. CHEANG PARK CHEW 


NOTE OF THE CHINESE-AMERICAN BANK 
OF COMMERCE 


ON THE ROAD WITH CIGARETTES 


YUAN SHIH KAI MEMORIAL DOLLAR 


WITH WALLS AND WITHOUT: PEKING 
AND SHANGHAI 


FISHING WITH CORMORANTS 


PAGE 
frontispiece 
38 

44 

46 

58 


108 


128 
160 
170 


206 


214 


224 


ER TOBACCO MERCHANT 
IN THE ORIENT 


CHAPTERS 
I ENTER THE TOBACCO BUSINESS 


Y GRANDFATHER, John Wesley Thomas, 
Yo my father, Henry Evans Thomas, 
were born in Hillsboro, North Carolina, and 
moved from there to Lawsonville, Rockingham 
County; but I do not know when. Both were 
members of the Methodist Church, and both 
grew and manufactured tobacco, principally 
into plug and twist, which they peddled through 
the Southern States. Into a two-mule wagon 
covered with a white cotton canvas they loaded 
the necessary cooking utensils together with 
forty to fifty boxes of tobacco weighing about 
forty pounds each. They went into South 
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, selling 
their wares along the road for cash or produce. 
My mother, Cornelia Jones Thomas, was born 
in Quincy, Florida, where my father met her 
when on one of his peddling trips. They were 
married in 1855, when my father was still mak- 


ing these expeditions. 


[3] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


I have often heard my father and grandfather 
speak of Mr. Washington Duke, whom they 
met in the South, also peddling tobacco. On 
several occasions Mr. Duke came to Lawson- 
ville. I recall my mother speaking most pleas- 
antly of him many years ago. They were all 
Methodists and in the same business. 

My uncle, James A. Thomas, for whom I was 
named, went to Trinity College for one term 
before the Civil War. He then enlisted in the 
Confederate army. After the war, he was not 
financially able to return to college. I first 
knew of Trinity from him; he always had a 
warm spot in his heart for the place. Knowing 
this, I decided in 1899 that I would present to 
Trinity College any books that I thought worth 
while, particularly on the Far East. So in that 
year I sent my first book to the library of 
Trinity College, the Life of Cecil Rhodes, by 
Howland Henson, a book that appealed to me 
very much. Sending books to the library has 
always been a great pleasure and privilege to 
me, and by sending them one or two at a time 
I have never felt their cost. I simply bought a 


[a 


—— 


ENTERING THE TOBACCO BUSINESS 


book that I wanted to read and, after reading 
it, passed it on to the College library. 

I first saw the light of day at Lawsonville, 
Rockingham County, North Carolina. My job 
as a boy was to work on the farm, and I took 
great interest in the growing, curing, and manu- 
facturing of tobacco. I was delighted when the 
curing season came, because I was allowed to 
sit up at the tobacco barns during the night, 
keeping up the fires which were used in the 
curing. 

In the spring and early autumn I went to a 
district school with the other farm children of 
the neighborhood. When I was about ten years 
old, we moved to Reidsville, North Carolina, at 
that time only a village with two tobacco ware- 
houses and five or six tobacco factories, all of 
which sold their products principally in the 
South. I found employment in a warehouse at 
twenty-five cents a day, which pleased me very 
much and gave me an opportunity to meet the to- 
bacco farmers from several of the surrounding 


counties and to learn about leaf tobacco. As 


[5] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


time went on I knew tobacco sufficiently well to 
buy it on the market. 

I saved as much money as I could with a view 
to educating myself, and there was great argu- 
ment in the family as to where I should go to 
school. It was finally decided that I should 
attend Eastman’s National Business College at 
Poughkeepsie, New York, which had a four 
months’ course at a very reasonable price. Here 
I met a good many boys from the South. 

It seemed a long journey from North Caro- 
lina to Poughkeepsie. In making connections at 
Washington, I had to wait about three hours for 
a train, which gave me my first opportunity to 
see the Capitol and the White House. I was 
back at the station, though, in plenty of time to 
catch my train. The journey from Washington 
to New York was through larger towns and 
cities than I had ever seen. The country im- 
pressed me as being very prosperous. The rail- 
way over which I traveled seemed to be better 
than any road I had ever been on, and I decided 
that if ever I made any money I would own a 
part of that railroad between Washington and 


[6] 


ENTERING THE TOBACCO BUSINESS 


New York. After completing my course at 
Eastman’s, I returned to North Carolina and 
got a job in a tobacco manufacturing plant as a 
salesman, principally for the South. 

The Philadelphia Centennial was widely ad- 
vertised in 1876. Although my means were 
extremely limited, I finally succeeded in getting 
sufficient money for a trip to Philadelphia and 
return, with one week at the Centennial. Here 
I saw my first cigarette. It was made at an 
exhibit by some people from Egypt. On my 
return from the Centennial I again became a 
tobacco salesman. The factory for which I 
worked made only plug and twist. In travel- 
ing most of the Southern states for it, I learned 
how to market tobacco. As I knew more about 
this product than about cotton, the other staple 
of the South, I decided to go on in the tobacco 
business. 

My immediate objective was to get into the 
cigarette trade as soon as I could, for I felt sure 
that this business would develop greatly. It 
seemed logical to me that, if Egypt could sell 
cigarettes in America, America could sell to 


[7] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


Egypt and to the entire world, because America 
was the home of tobacco. Nor was it long be- 
fore the manufacture of cigarettes was vigor- 
ously taken up in this country. About this time 
the firm of W. Duke Sons and Company, of 
Durham, North Carolina, commenced making 
them. 

The Hawaiian Islands before they were an- 
nexed to the United States, Japan, China 
(including Manchuria and Mongolia), the 
Philippine Islands, India, Burma, Ceylon, Java, 
Sumatra, Borneo, Malay, Chinese Turkistan, 
Tibet, Korea, Russia, Germany, Poland, Aus- 
tria, Italy, France, England, Belgium, Malta, 
Gibraltar, Spain, Africa, Canada, Samoan Is- 
lands, Fiji Islands, Australia, New Zealand, 
Tasmania, and Mexico: these are the countries 
I have visited. Although tobacco was being 
grown in many of them, and China grew more 
of it than the United States, we succeeded in 
introducing into these countries cigarettes 
manufactured from tobacco grown in North 
and South Carolina and Virginia. 

In 1886 I went to California for a firm of 


[8] 


ENTERING THE TOBACCO BUSINESS 


tobacco manufacturers, Motley, Wright and 
Company, and to Australia in 1888 for the 
same firm. I traveled in Australia, New Zea- 
land, and Tasmania until 1894, returning to 
America at the outbreak of the Chino-Japanese 
War. Some years after the formation of the 
American Tobacco Company, that corporation 
bought Motley, Wright and Company. I then 
accepted a position with the Liggett and Myers 
Tobacco Company, of St. Louis, Missouri. After 
I had been with Liggett and Myers a few years, 
it was bought out by the Continental Tobacco 
Company, and I was ordered to New York to 
confer with the officials of the Continental. I 
was given a position as manager of the export 
department, assigned an office and stenographer, 
and was told to take up my work on the first of 
the month, which was only four of five days off. 

A few days later the board of directors of the 
Continental met and voted to abolish my posi- 
tion. I was told that the American Tobacco 
Company would look after the export trade. I 
was given a position in the American Tobacco 
Company in 1899 and was sent to India as man- 


[9] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


ager. I had previously been to India, China, 
and other parts of the Far East for the Liggett 
and Myers Tobacco Company. Soon after I 
left America the Continental was merged with 
the American Tobacco Company. I want to 
make it perfectly clear that when the American 
Tobacco Company bought the Motley business, 
and later on when the Continental Tobacco Com- 
pany bought out Liggett and Myers, I was not 
a part of the sale, though I did secure employ- 
ment with the American Tobacco Company. 

But let us return to California, whither I 
was first sent, which in those days seemed to me 
further away from North Carolina than Aus- 
tralia seems today. Although my object was 
to visit foreign countries, starting West quite 
satisfied my wanderlust. I was new to Cali- 
fornia, and California with its people, their cus- 
toms and habits, was new to me. However, I 
got settled quickly and commenced to look 
around for the best course to pursue in intro- 
ducing a new brand of tobacco. 

After being in San Francisco for about four 
or five weeks, I became more or less acquainted 

[ 10] 


ENTERING THE TOBACCO BUSINESS 


with the city. One day I went into a restaurant 
and got up on a high stool to eat my lunch. I 
ordered roast beef and potatoes with the usual 
bread and butter, the price of which was twenty- 
five cents. Sitting alongside of me was a bald 
man with a long black beard who weighed about 
two hundred pounds. He was eating corned 
beef and cabbage. No sooner had I asked for 
roast beef and potatoes than, without any saluta- 
tion whatsoever, he said: “I advise you to 
change your order. I know this restaurant well. 
The corned beef and cabbage they have here is 
the best in the country.” Without further ado, 
he told the waiter to cancel my roast beef and 
potatoes and to bring me corned beef and cab- 
bage. I rather resented this, and could not 
understand why he should deliberately cancel 
the order of an utter stranger. I told him that 
if he did not object, I would rather have roast 
beef and potatoes than corned beef and cabbage. 
He still insisted, but I told him that if everyone 
ate what he was eating, then the proprietor 
would not cook any more roast beef and pota- 
toes and would probably raise the price of 


[11] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


corned beef and cabbage. So I thought it was 
better for him to eat one thing and for me to - 
eat another. 

He changed his tactics immediately, remark- 
ing that there was a good deal in what I had 
said, as he himself knew restaurants which had 
raised prices on different dishes for no reason 
whatever. He also told me that if I ever needed 
a job he would give me one. I asked him what 
kind of job he had to give, and he told me that 
he was in the tobacco trade. My reply was that 
I was already in the tobacco business and was 
quite satisfied with my work. This introduction 
at the restaurant was the beginning of our 
friendship. Mike, as I shall call my friend, was 
always very particular about details. When he 
paid a street-car fare, he counted the change, 
and if he bought a cigar or a piece of tobacco, 
the same thing took place. He was a close, con- 
scientious worker, who kept in touch with every- 
thing connected with his business. He could 
tell you the names of the streets, the easiest 
way to get to a certain part of the city, or to 
any part of the United States, and he knew the 

[12] 


ENTERING THE TOBACCO BUSINESS 


customers of his company well enough to call 
them by their first names. 

The best selling brand of chewing tobacco in 
those days was a plug manufactured to weigh 
twelve or fourteen ounces, marked off so as to 
give six ten-cent cuts. This worked very well, 
as the consumer had only to lay down his dime 
and take one sixth of a plug, which in some 
places was the twelve-ounce size and in others 
the fourteen-ounce plug. However, as Mike 
sold a sixteen-ounce plug while I sold smoking 
tobacco, we were not competitors. He and I 
often used to meet the representative of the 
company that was selling the twelve- and four- 
teen-ounce plugs, which had nearly all of the 
business. This man gave us much genial advice 
and pointed out the many failures that had been 
made by men who had come to that part of the 
world to introduce new brands of tobacco. All 
of this we accepted in a most friendly manner, 
but it gave us cause for serious thought. 

Mike’s brand was comparatively new on the 
market, but he was putting in a lot of hard work 
to introduce it. His day started at about seven 

[13] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


o'clock, and often he worked until twelve at 
night with indifferent success. He had an agree- 
ment with his company by which he was to re- 
ceive, in addition to his salary, a commission of 
two per cent. for any increase in his total sales 
over fifty thousand dollars a year. Up to this 
time, however, he had not been able to realize 
anything on this two per cent. proposition, as his 
sales per annum had not amounted to fifty 
thousand dollars. 

One morning he received a postal card from 
a large firm of tobacco merchants, asking him 
to call at their office. He responded immedi- 
ately and was given an order for a hundred 
thousand pounds of tobacco together with a 
check for forty thousand dollars, with a stipu- 
lation that the tobacco be manufactured into 
fourteen-ounce plugs. He thanked them, say- 
ing that he had realized for some time that there 
was an increasing demand for his brand and 
that he would transmit the order to his com- 
pany, leaving it to decide whether to accept it 
or not. Mike adopted this method because he 
was selling only sixteen-ounce plugs. The to- 

[ 14] 


ENTERING THE TOBACCO BUSINESS 


bacco merchants seemed satisfied that the order 
would be accepted, so Mike transmitted it to his 
company. 

At that time it took about seven days for a 
letter to go to the eastern part of the United 
States from California. Mike was very uneasy 
while waiting for a reply and canvassed the 
situation with me. Some days he was quite 
sure his order would be accepted; on others he 
was sure that it would not be. About fifteen 
days after he posted his letter he received a 
reply returning the check and a receipt for it, 
which he was instructed to deliver to the mer- 
chants for them to sign in exchange for the 
check and the order. The company regretted 
that it could not accept the order, because the 
machinery in its factory was built to manufac- 
ture a sixteen-ounce plug. Mike was particu- 
larly requested to explain this to his customers 
and to endeavor to get them to order sixteen- 
ounce plugs. He faithfully carried out these 
instructions, but was unable to get the order 
changed. 

That afternoon, after Mike had posted the 

[15] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


receipt back to his company, he called on me, 
and we went over the whole situation. He was 
discouraged and told me quite frankly that he 
did not see much future in the position that he 
held; that he had worked hard to induce one of 
the largest tobacco merchants in the country to 
place an order for one hundred thousand pounds 
of tobacco, which his company had declined to 
accept; that he proposed to consult his wife, re- 
sign his position, and to go into some other 
business.. Although he talked freely about the 
letter from his company, I felt that I would like 
to read it myself to help me understand why the 
order was declined. But he seemed secretive 
about the letter. Finally I told him that I 
thought we had better go home and take up the 
matter the next day. Whereupon he insisted 
on telephoning his wife that he would not be 
home for supper and on my eating with him at 
the high-stool restaurant. 

Afterward we walked up and down the street, 
still debating the letter and the course he was to 
pursue. At four o’clock in the morning, after 
having talked all night, we stopped under a 

[ 16] 


ENTERING THE TOBACCO BUSINESS 


lamp-post, and he showed me the letter. I read 
it carefully. To the final paragraph, in which 
his company reminded him that its plug weighed 
sixteen ounces, his reaction was: “Of course, I 
know our plug is sixteen ounces and that six- 
teen ounces is a pound. I cannot understand 
why they should write me like that, when they 
know perfectly well that I have known it all the 
time.” Together we read the letter over again, 
at least a dozen times. I suggested to him that 
though he and his company knew the plug 
weighed sixteen ounces, probably the public, or 
the consumers of his tobacco, did not know it, 
and for that reason his company had called at- 
tention to the fact. 

In reply to his question as to what to do, I 
told him to have posters printed immediately 
reading: “Every plug of our tobacco weighs six- 
teen ounces, full weight.” I advised him to 
have these made by the thousands and placed on 
the bill-boards of the fourteen Western states 
assigned to him. I repeated this three or four 
times and saw that he had commenced to think. 
It was now getting on toward six o’clock, and 

[17] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


Mike suggested that we go into the restaurant 
for some breakfast. To this I agreed. Before 
the meal was over I could see that he had reached 
a conclusion. On finishing we crossed the street 
to a printing establishment which the proprietor 
was just opening. Mike placed the order for the 
posters, three-inch black letters on yellow paper. 
When asked how many he wanted, he told the 
printer to keep right on at full time, making 
posters until told to stop. 

The posters did not cost much—three dollars 
a thousand—and by twelve o’clock that day they 
were being put on local bill-boards and were be- 
ing sent out all over the West to bill-posters with 
instructions to use them plentifully. The re- 
sponse to this poster seemed slow to Mike. He 
got discouraged and said he was afraid his idea 
was not going to yield results. My advice was 
to go on and give the public a fair chance to 
read the posters, as I felt sure that an increase | 
in his sales was bound to follow. 

One evening I went into a tobacco shop in an 
interior town and spoke to the proprietor, whom 
I knew slightly. I asked him how Mike’s brand 

[ 18] 


ENTERING THE TOBACCO BUSINESS 


was selling. He stated that there was not much 
demand for it, that the twelve and fourteen- 
ounce plugs had all the business. While we 
were talking, a man came in carrying a tin 
bucket. His face was all black with coal soot. 
Laying down a ten-cent piece, he asked for a cut 
of the fourteen-ounce variety. Putting it into 
his pocket he started for the door, only to come 
back to ask the proprietor to show him the ten- 
cent cut of the sixteen-ounce plug. He took the 
two pieces of tobacco, one in each hand, and 
examined them. Finally he laid down his first 
purchase, pocketed the other, and walked out. I 
bade the proprietor of the shop “good-night,”’ 
and went straight away to send Mike a tele- 
gram advising him to put up more posters, as 
the public was asking for his brand because of 
them. He replied that the demand had in- 
creased, and that he was sending more posters 
to the town where I was. 

Time rolled along, and the orders commenced 
to pour in for sixteen-ounce plugs. It was nota 
question of how much a tobacco merchant would 
buy, but how much he could get. Distribution 

[19] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


was made in such a way as to give all the mer- 
chants and dealers a share in the supply. Mike 
and the home office of the company received a 
great many complaints from merchants who 
were not being supplied with a sufficient quan- 
tity. These customers were told that prepara- 
tions were being made for an increased supply 
for everybody. 

Mike’s business grew. He received orders 
one month for fourteen million pounds of to- 
bacco, an increase due to the posters, which 
simply said: “Every plug of our tobacco weighs 
sixteen ounces, full weight.” The sales of the 
twelve and fourteen-ounce plugs dropped off 
correspondingly. Their manufacturers changed 
to a sixteen-ounce piece, which the public de- 
clined to buy. Mike had to get a new office and 
a larger staff. He was regarded by everyone as 
a man of excellent judgment. In less than six 
months he was called upon for all manner of 
advice. Naturally, he was greatly pleased, 
though he still received a long string of com- 
plaints, because he could not supply the demand 
for his tobacco. 

[ 20 ] 


ENTERING THE TOBACCO BUSINESS 


He constantly spoke of this to me. One day, 
just for a joke, I told him that I did not see that 
it made any difference whether he got an in- 
creased supply or not, as I was certain that he 
was going to lose his job, and he might as well 
make up his mind to it. He wanted to know 
why I thought this, when his sales were showing 
a big increase. I simply told him that his sales 
commission over and above the fifty thousand 
dollars a year was causing him to make more 
money than his company was making, and that I 
was certain such a state of affairs could not long 
continue. I urged him to talk the matter over 
seriously with his wife, enabling her to prepare 
for the family changes when he should lose his 
job. He did not agree with me. When I in- 
sisted on seeing the check for his last month’s 
two per cent. commission, he stated that he had 
already put it in the bank. Finally he told me 
what the amount was. I replied that he ought 
to know that his company was not going to con- 
tinue to pay him that sum of money. 

He went on with his work, and about three 
months later he received a beautiful letter from 

[ 21] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


headquarters stating that his services had be- 
come too valuable for him to remain in the West, 
that they wanted him to close up his affairs, 
appoint his successor, and come back to the 
head office as sales manager for the entire busi- 
ness. They offered to make him one of the 
directors of the company, but no mention was 
made of the two per cent. commission. He re- 
plied that he preferred to remain in the West 
and that he had bought a house, to sell which 
would occasion hima loss. In addition, his wife 
was perfectly satisfied and preferred to live in 
California. The company replied, insisting that 
he act on the previous letter without delay and 
that he would be repaid any loss on his house up 
to ten thousand dollars. He advertised the place 
for sale, and within a few weeks took up his 
new position, which he handled with great credit. 
His salary was readjusted so as to compensate 
him in part for the two per cent. commis- 
sion, and the whole matter was satisfactorily 
arranged. 

The point of this story is that a short sen- 
tence: “Every plug of our tobacco weighs six- 

[ 22 ] 


ENTERING THE TOBACCO BUSINESS 


teen ounces, full weight,” developed a successful 
idea and created for me a position with Liggett 
and Myers, involving an opportunity to go to 
the Hawaiian Islands, Japan, China, the Philip- 
pines, Borneo, Straits Settlement, Java, Suma- 
tra, Siam, India, Burma, and Ceylon; for Mike 
recommended me to the company. I had in- 
structions to visit these countries for three 
years and then come back and tell what I had 
seen. Accordingly it was arranged for me to 
sail on August 5, 1897, on the good ship China, 
going from San Francisco to Yokohama, via the 
Hawaiian Islands. ‘We had about two hundred 
first-class passengers on board, among whom 
were a Russian admiral and his staff, who were 
also going to Japan. 

My job had seemed good until I landed in 
Japan, where I realized that I was a foreigner 
unable to speak the language and was under- 
taking to introduce American cigarettes. After 
a few days of serious consideration, I was ina 
frame of mind to get the next steamer home, but 
I decided that this would never do. I had ac- 
cepted a position agreeing to visit these countries 

[ 23 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


and had been given a perfectly free hand. Ac- 
cordingly, I determined to set to work to get 
some valuable information for my company. 

Soon thereafter I went to China, where I 
later did a large part of my best work. Before 
relating my experiences there, let me summa- 
rize briefly my travels: I first went to China in 
1897. After spending a few months there, I 
visited Hong Kong, the Philippine Islands, the 
Malay States, Siam, Burma, and India. In 
1900 I was sent to Singapore as manager of the 
American Tobacco Company in the Straits Set- 
tlement. This company was amalgamated with 
the Imperial Tobacco Company in 1902 to form 
the British-American Tobacco Company, Ltd. 
I was manager of this company in India, 
1903-4. In 1905 I went to Shanghai as man- 
ager of this company in China, where I re- 
mained until January, 1916, when I was trans- 
ferred to the London office. I returned to China 
later in the same year and remained until 1923. 
In the years 1920-23 I was released to organ- 
ize the Chinese-American Bank of Commerce, 
after which I returned to the United States. 

[ 24] 


CHAPTER II 
MY PROBLEM IN CHINA 


ICTURE in your mind’s eye a man landing in 

1897 in China, a country with a population 
of 450,000,000 people. He knew nothing what- 
ever about the country except what he had been 
able to gather from books. After his reading, 
he was as much at sea with regard to establish- 
ing himself as would be a man taken by the 
heels and thrown into the middle of the Pacific 
Ocean without a life-buoy or a boat in sight. 
I had a job and knew that I would get my salary 
at the end of each month. My desire was to 
earn that salary and to conduct myself in such 
a way as to retain the confidence and respect of 
my principals back home. 

Candidly, I did not know which way to turn. 
Being a foreigner, I was placed in the cold cate- 
gory of alien. As I did not speak the language, 
my first business was to employ an interpreter. 
I went faithfully to call upon Chinese mer- 
chants, and the interpreter listened to my story, 
which would often take half an hour. Then he 

[25 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


would turn to the merchant and in a dozen 
words interpret what I had said. I felt that it 
was not possible for anyone to interpret a 
speech of a half hour in a few words, and I was 
terribly discouraged. But, after taking into 
consideration all the conditions, I decided that 
it would never do for me to fail in what I had 
undertaken ; that is, to establish contact with the 
Chinese merchants. 

I tried to give myself encouragement. I called 
upon foreign bankers and foreign merchants, 
who received me very cordially. But they stated 
quite frankly that they thought I had under- 
taken a futile project, that the Chinese smoked 
pipes and would always smoke them, knew noth- 
ing about cigarettes, and cared less. In my in- 
terviews with these conservative foreigners I 
received no more encouragement than I had had 
from the Chinese merchants. The whole propo- 
sition looked impossible, but I was determined 
to find a way out. What is more, I had been 
raised to work from seven o’clock in the morn- 
ing to any hour of the night that I could find 
work to do, and I believed that something 

[ 26 ] 


MY PROBLEM IN CHINA 


would be accomplished if I adhered to this 
principle. 

I reasoned that if a man with no education 
or training but with the common-sense notion 
of driving a nail into a piece of wood with a 
hammer could become so adept as to hit the nail 
on the head every time, he would eventually 
drive it in. This may be a homely comparison, 
but it was the one I made, and coupled with it 
was a determination to find a way for the suc- 
cessful introduction of cigarettes into a foreign 
land. I knew that I had the codperation and 
support of my chief back home. I was also sure 
that he knew nothing about the conditions I was 
contending with; and, further, that it would 
make very little difference to him if I returned 
home and frankly said I had failed. My princi- 
pal would probably say that he felt sorry. He 
might add that he knew the task I had under- 
taken was difficult, but that he had hoped I 
would find some way leading to success. 

Although I had never studied economics at 
school, economic problems always interested me. 
When I was a boy I got hold of a book on the 

[ 27 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


subject which I read very carefully and which 
made a deep impression on me. That book took 
the position that farm labor was drawn upon 
more than any other class of labor. On the 
other hand, when a railroad or building was 
constructed, a portion of that labor filtered back 
and was employed again in building something 
else. My book on economics drew the poverty 
line and gave an illustration of the two usual 
periods of poverty in the life of a farmer. It 
started out with a young man from twenty to 
twenty-four years of age, who was just above 
the poverty line. He then married and went to 
farming on his own account. His children came 
on, and he went below the poverty level until 
the eldest child was about twelve years of age, 
when it could produce something on the farm. 
When the children reached the age of twenty 
to twenty-four, the father and mother were 
slightly above the poverty line again. Then 
their children married and went off for them- 
selves, sending the father and mother, at the age 
of forty-five or fifty, again below the poverty 
line, where they remained the rest of their lives. 
[ 28 ] 


MY PROBLEM IN CHINA 


What further impressed me was that the 
masses own the one, five, ten, twenty-five, and 
fifty-cent pieces, which comprise most of the 
coins current not only in the United States but 
in any country. The man who has the dollars is 
certainly supreme when dollars and cents are 
compared; but, as the majority of the people 
own small coins, the men with dollars are in the 
minority. As most of the wealth of a nation is 
in the hands of the people with the small coins, 
it seemed to me that if I could create something 
to sell to this majority for a coin that was cur- 
rent, it would lead to success. So I kept right 
on thinking about this and trying in every way 
to hit upon a practical application. 

One day I was in a retail grocery store in 
America watching an incoming shipment of 
goods. Among other things there was a sack of 
salt that weighed about one hundred and seven- 
ty-five pounds. It was opened and dumped into 
a barrel. A few minutes later a woman came in 
and asked the clerk for five cents’ worth of 
salt, salt being priced at two cents a pound. The 
clerk went to the barrel, took out a scoopful, 

[ 29 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


and put it on the scales. He gave the woman 
down weight, or a little more than two and a 
half pounds of salt, for a nickel. I asked my- 
self: “Why could not a container of thin cotton 
cloth with a brand printed on it, and with an 
equalization of freight, be made to sell for five 
cents; that is, why not sell a bag of salt for five 
cents, giving the dealer a profit and cutting 
down the expense of clerk hire?” I figured that 
the cloth container would not cost much more 
than the paper bag which was in use, and that 
by taking into account the overhead of the 
grocery store together with the freight, a meas- 
ure of salt could be put in a cotton cloth con- 
tainer and sold for five cents. Salt was so cheap 
that clerks took very little thought of what 
weight they were giving, as the profit or loss 
on it seemed inconsiderable. The result was 
that I devised a cotton container which held 
five cents’ worth of salt and sold the idea to a 
house in the salt trade. 

Likewise, the sewing machine fascinated me. 
In the early days the thread of a sewing ma- 
chine was in a skein, which was fastened to the 

[ 30] 


MY PROBLEM IN CHINA 


plate of the machine and came up to the top of 
the bar and then went down over the front to 
the needle. The feed was from this plate, and 
the skein of thread had a small tag on it to hold 
it together. It was just a piece of thread and 
in no sense a proprietary article. Consequently, 
there was no good will connected with its manu- 
facture. I took a piece of paper and wound the 
skein of thread around it. When this was put 
on top of the bar it fed right down over the 
plate into the needle very much better than it 
did the other way. I showed this improvement 
to a man who was in the thread trade, and 
finally a labeled spool of thread, now in general 
use, was put on the market. For this idea also 
I received a small remuneration. 

I do not know what construction will be put 
upon what I have written, or whether it is 
sound economic theory; but it illustrates how I 
applied my economics. At the time, I had no 
idea that the salt bag and the spool of thread 
would go into general use. What I profited on 
these devices was easy money, and I was satis- 
fied. In my judgment, any scheme to eliminate 

[31] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


waste is worthy of serious consideration. The 
public as a rule pays little attention to waste. 

These incidents give some idea of what was 
going through my mind out there in China. I 
finally decided, for want of something better to 
do, or rather to keep from thinking of my pos- 
sible failure, to get possession of one each of 
the metal coins of the country. I was always 
collecting coins. In fact, I had made it a part of 
my day’s work to do so. I went to an exchange 
shop and in a few minutes picked out from the 
stock of copper and silver coins those that were 
current. When these were piled up, the coin 
merchant told me what I owed him. 

After purchasing the coins, I took them to 
my room and laid them down on the table. 
From the exchange rates I very easily worked 
out the value of each in gold dollars. After 
spending a few hours in this way, I became so 
much interested in these coins and their value 
that I could think of nothing else. As a matter 
of fact, I had already forgotten the impressions 
I had after meeting the Chinese and foreign 
merchants and bankers a few days before. 

[ 32 ] 


MY PROBLEM IN CHINA 


I then conceived the idea of making a packet 
of cigarettes that could be purchased with one 
of these Chinese coins. I would allow a profit 
for the manufacturer, the wholesaler, and the 
retailer; and take into consideration the cost, 
freight, insurance to China, and the Chinese 
government duty. The consumer need only ex- 
change his coin for a packet of our cigarettes. 
This necessitated many calculations. I went to 
a stationer and bought a supply of thirty-two 
column paper. On the right-hand side of the 
thirty-second column I put a Chinese coin 
which represented two cents. Usually in mak- 
ing estimates one commences at the left-hand 
corner of the paper. I started at the right, be- 
cause I knew that the two-cent gold-value coin 
in the hands of the Chinese consumer was the 
most important item before me. The consumer 
was enthroned, so to speak, and it was up to me 
to create something to sell him for his coin. 
After many days of work, I got back to the last 
column on the left-hand side of the paper, prov- 
ing that my project was feasible. 

No sooner had I convinced myself of this 

[ 33 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


than other difficulties arose, difficulties that 
seemed almost insurmountable. It occurred to 
me that if the cigarettes sold for the coin on 
which I had based my figures, the business 
would immediately develop to such an extent 
that the price of the raw material at home 
would advance, thereby throwing my price level 
out and causing a decrease in the volume of 
possible business. So I decided to start all over 
again and to make my figures on a twenty-year 
basis, accounting in one column of the sheet for 
an increased cost of raw material, but still 
showing a profit. These calculations on a 
twenty-year basis contained nearly ten thousand 
figures, which I checked and proved and had 
printed on sheets. Then I proceeded with my 
idea. 

Although it took months to get these figures 
completely cleared up in my mind, they gave me 
an assurance upon which I was willing to stake 
my reputation. I went about my daily routine 
with perfect poise. It was my plan to place 
these figures before Mr. James B. Duke as soon 
as I had an opportunity. I hoped that he would 

[ 34] 


MY PROBLEM IN CHINA 


be sufficiently interested in them to back me in 
carrying the project into effect. 

A few months after this, I went to New 
York and was able to present the figures to Mr. 
Duke. They impressed him very favorably. 
After half an hour’s conversation, he told me 
that I could proceed with my idea and that he 
would give me every support. This encouraged 
me greatly. He advised me to explain my pur- 
pose to some other gentlemen in the office, 
which I did. But after being around for a few 
days with the sheet of figures in my hand, the 
men to whom I had explained my idea usually 
went the other way when they saw me coming. 

After ten days or so, I talked to Mr. Duke 
again one morning. He asked me what I had 
done or was going to do with my plans regard- 
ing the introduction of cigarettes into Eastern 
countries. I told him that I had done nothing, 
and that although I had talked to everyone who 
gave me an opportunity, I had received no en- 
couragement. He summoned several other gen- 
tlemen into his office, one of whom asked me 
how much tobacco I wanted to carry out the 

[35 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


idea. I told him five million pounds. He did not 
concur, but after an hour’s argument it was de- 
cided that I could have a million pounds with 
which to start. The first shipment of cigarettes 
to arrive in China sold immediately, as did later 
shipments to that and other Eastern countries. 
Mr. Duke continued to give my plans his full 
support. 

I went back to the Far East for two years 
and then returned to New York. Mr. Duke as- 
sured me that the idea was getting on very well, 
that he was pleased with it, but that he thought 
I should advertise more than I was doing. I ex- 
plained that I was feeling my way, trying to 
make the cigarettes a paying proposition from 
the very beginning. He became enthusiastic 
when I finally told him that I was not unpre- 
pared to spend more money in advertising. I 
asked him how long it would take to double the 
price of the leaf tobacco used in manufacturing 
cigarettes and to add to the value of tobacco 
land fifteen dollars per acre over and above the 
normal price. He immediately answered that it 
would take twenty years. As a matter of fact, 

[ 36 ] 


MY PROBLEM IN CHINA 


it only took ten and one half years to bring 
about this result. 

About this time a suit, which finally disinte- 
grated the old American Tobacco Company, 
was brought against it by the federal govern- 
ment. I think this suit was bound to come 
because anti-trust public opinion was strong 
throughout the United States. But I knew that 
the price of tobacco rose as soon as an export 
trade was created. There was no criticism of 
the position the government took. With me it 
was purely a matter of creating something that 
the public in a foreign country would buy and 
pay a reasonable price for. 

There was no column in my sheet of ten thou- 
sand figures that provided for public opinion. In 
the final analysis, the law suit was put into a 
building by itself and was handled by courts 
and lawyers, while we went on, as formerly, 
attending to business. We felt that we were en- 
titled to some credit for adopting this method, 
since we were paid to increase the very satis- 
factory business that we had, and we succeeded 
in doing so. 

[ 37] 


‘ CHAPTER III 


JAMES B. DUKE AND THE TOBACCO BUSINESS 
IN THE FAR EAST 


AMES B. DUKE was born with an unusual 
J amount of common sense and could absorb 
ninety-nine per cent. of what was said to him 
when it was worth listening to. I shall never 
forget my first interview with him. I had 
heard a great deal of the man, particularly of 
his mercantile ability, and knew that he was 
making a success of his enterprises. Knowing 
that he was a very busy person and prizing the 
opportunity of talking to him, I had noted a few 
things that I wished to discuss and had them on 
a small card in my hand. These points dealt 
with business in the Far East. I went into Mr. 
Duke’s office with as much awe as if I were 
meeting the President of the United States, 
wondering all the while what he would say. 
Not knowing what his reaction would be, I was 
very hesitant to take up the points I wished to 
talk about. He asked me to sit down and im- 
mediately opened up the conversation. After 

[ 38] 


1897) 


JANUS 13, ID WIKIS, (Ge 


tf 


JAMES B. DUKE AND THE EAST 


being in his presence for five minutes, I felt as 
though I had known him all my life. I realized 
that I could tell him in detail what I was under- 
taking in the Far East, because I was certain 
that he would be interested and would give me 
the benefit of his great mercantile knowledge. 

The simplicity of Mr. Duke’s manner made 
him quite approachable. After talking with 
him, I concluded that he had a gift for seeing 
the other man’s side of a case as well as his own. 
This gave him great power. Before our inter- 
view was over, he said that at school he had 
paid little attention to geography; but that his 
brother, Mr. Benjamin N. Duke, had studied it 
and wanted to talk to me about the Far East. 
I received some valuable information on the 
occasion of my meeting Mr. Benjamin Duke. 

Mr. James B. Duke always asked many ques- 
tions relating to all kinds of business. I recall 
that he once asked me how much it cost to grow 
a pound of tobacco, a bushel of wheat, a bushel 
of corn, and a bale of cotton in China. He 
wanted to know the wages of Chinese farm 
laborers, quoting the figures for farm hands in 

[ 39] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


the United States and the cost of producing 
commodities at home. He realized that there 
was plenty of farm labor in the Far East, but 
wanted to know the difference in the costs of 
production abroad and in the United States. 
Mr. Duke maintained that if the Chinese could 
produce something cheaper than we could over 
here, we ought to buy it from them, thus en- 
abling them to buy more cigarettes. 

At the time of the Boxer Rebellion in China, 
it was almost impossible to market goods there. 
As a result of this stagnation in trade, the price 
of tobacco was very low in 1901. Public opin- 
ion in America blamed Mr. Duke for the re- 
duction. There was much adverse comment. 
Knowing the conditions in China, I did not 
share this feeling. Also I knew that in pro- 
moting our foreign sales, Mr. Duke constantly 
emphasized the fact that we were helping to 
increase the price of tobacco to the farmers who 
grew it in the Carolinas and Virginia. We knew 
that the Southern farmer was poor and needed 
this help. Mr. Duke also maintained that an 
increase in the price of tobacco would raise the 

[ 40 ] 


JAMES B. DUKE AND THE EAST 


value of the land upon which it grew. With the 
settlement of the Boxer Rebellion, business im- 
proved, and the price of leaf tobacco went up. 
To-day it is commonly recognized that the price 
of tobacco and tobacco fields in America is 
partly kept up by the large export trade which 
Mr. Duke and his associates created. Inci- 
dentally, Georgia has taken up tobacco culture, 
and production there is on the increase. 

Mr. Duke put the same amount of energy 
and business ability into the Far Eastern trade 
that he did into the domestic business. Once he 
told me that he expected soon to have the do- 
mestic business so thoroughly organized that 
if it were not for the Far Eastern trade he 
would have nothing to do. At a time when 
many laborers in China worked all day for ten 
to twenty cents, he directed me to try to create 
higher wages among them. This would increase 
their consuming power. So we established fac- 
tories in China for the Chinese trade. The native 
labor was so well looked after in matters of 
sanitation, living conditions, etc., that our labor 
turn-over was less than one per cent. The 

[41] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


Chinese were trained and given a living wage. 
This part of the work was particularly inter- 
esting to Mr. Duke. 

I was glad to see the establishment of these 
factories. With the successful introduction of 
several brands of cigarettes into the Far East, 
the market was permanently established. But 
as we were marketing a proprietary article, 
someone might possibly soon come along and 
manufacture cigarettes in the Orient. Had this 
been done, the sale of our cigarettes would un- 
doubtedly have been affected to such an extent 
that we might have lost the trade we had spent 
years to establish. 

After these factories were started, the Chi- 
nese could buy five good smokes for a copper 
coin, which in American money would be about 
half a cent. The sale of these cigarettes made 
of Carolina-grown tobacco increased to a vol- 
ume of five hundred million a month. Given 
China’s population of 450,000,000 people, and 
assuming that in the future they might average 
a cigarette a day, I began to wonder where all 


[ 42] 


JAMES B. DUKE AND THE EAST 


this tobacco would come from. Certainly we 
could not get it from America. 

At that time there was more tobacco grown 
in China than in the United States. Once when 
it was charged that the Americans were teach- 
ing the Chinese to smoke, Mr. Duke asked me 
to look up the history of tobacco in China. I 
learned that China had been growing tobacco 
since the sixteenth century; it was brought from 
the Philippine Islands about 1568. But the 
Chinese tobacco was not aromatic. It was used 
principally for smoking in water pipes. 

After some investigation I found that the 
quality of the native tobacco could be improved 
to such an extent that it could be used in the 
grade of cigarettes we sold in China. I next 
brought out from North Carolina some men who 
were thoroughly familiar with growing ciga- 
rette tobacco. They taught the Chinese farmers 
how to cultivate it. We also employed a soil 
expert. . Seed and fertilizer were imported from 
the United States. In three years we pro- 
duced a satisfactory quality of tobacco. Though 
we bought the tobacco we taught the Chinese 

[ 43] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


farmer to grow, other manufacturers could and 
did go into the market, buying it at the same 
price. 

While improving the quality of Chinese to- 
bacco, we found that by using healthy seed and 
good fertilizer the farmer could produce a 
heavier tobacco than he had formerly grown 
from native seed. Within seven years we had 
produced a good hereditary tobacco seed in 
China. When we commenced this work in 
Shantung province, that province was consid- 
ered the poorest in the country. Later this 
condition was reversed, due largely to the as- 
sistance given the farmers in pursuance of Mr. 
Duke’s policy. 

Three years after we started teaching the 
Chinese to improve the quality of their tobacco, 
I returned one evening from a trip through the 
tobacco districts and remarked to my colleagues 
that the farmers were growing little else. They 
were getting a better price for tobacco than they 
had ever received for other products and were 
quite satisfied to grow it. I was afraid, however, 
that eventually there would be a shortage of 

[ 44 ] 


Tae AERERP GRAN MUBE UM 
of Aer 


WATER PIPES 


JAMES B. DUKE AND THE EAST 


food in the tobacco growing country, a condition 
that I thought we should consider. I noticed 
that the farmer who had grown tobacco for a 
year or two went to the village to buy most of 
his food. In view of the large population of 
China, I told my colleagues that I thought we 
were on the wrong road, and that we should 
immediately set to work to influence the farm- 
ers to grow more food stuffs. 

There was considerable waste land in the dis- 
trict where we were. The land in that part of 
China is very much like that in some parts of 
North Carolina. It grows broom sage, black- 
eyed peas, and peanuts. The rainfall and red 
gullies also reminded me of Carolina. We 
finally cabled to San Francisco and had four 
tons of alfalfa seed sent to us. On the arrival 
of this seed we had printed in Chinese instruc- 
tions for planting alfalfa and a statement that 
it would grow well on waste land. We put 
these slips of paper into cotton sacks containing 
a half pound of alfalfa seed each. These bags 
were then distributed among the farmers. As 
alfalfa is a perennial, it required very little 

[45] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


extra labor for the farmer to grow it. He got 
two crops a year, which he used in feeding his 
animals, principally cattle. Three years later 
the province of Shantung was exporting beef 
to the Philippine Islands as a result of the in- 
creased growing of cattle made possible by the 
introduction of alfalfa. A cold-storage plant 
was erected at Tsingtao, and the beef was sent 
in cold-storage ships. When one considers the 
amount of food required for the population of 
China, the seriousness of the situation is clear. 
We thought that if the farmers would plant 
alfalfa, the food supply would be increased. 
This proved to be the case. 

The Chinese Revolution took place in Octo- 
ber, 1911, and a republican form of govern- 
ment was set up. The new republic found it 
absolutely necessary to borrow money from for- 
eign powers, a portion of which would be used 
to demobilize the Chinese Army and find work 
for the soldiers. This brought to the fore- 
ground the question of finance. During 1912 
preparations were made for loans from foreign 
powers. In 1913 the Chinese Re-organiza- 

[ 46 ] 


ONES SUITS). QUA ELIT SE (ODA) N/E O) ML, TF ay NCEE INET SE GE el 5% I 


DULY D {0 ]DUANO LS [DANZNIUG py Wo1y 


JAMES B. DUKE AND THE EAST 


tion Loan was signed, a sextuple loan of one 
hundred and fifty million gold dollars, which 
was to be underwritten by the bankers of 
the United States, Great Britain, Japan, Ger- 
many, Russia, and France—twenty-five million 
gold dollars each. But when the question of 
this Re-organization Loan for the Government 
of China was taken up with the American Sec- 
retary of State, Mr. W. J. Bryan, he advised 
the American bankers to withdraw from the 
project on the ground that the integrity of 
China was affected; so the loan was under- 
written by only five of the powers mentioned 
above, the United States not participating. 
Simultaneously with this, a London banker 
loaned the government of China a further 
twenty-five million gold dollars, making a total 
of one hundred and fifty million gold dollars, 
and, in addition to this, American bankers 
loaned China eleven million gold dollars; Japan- 
ese bankers also loaned China one hundred and 
seventy-five million gold dollars. 

In talking all this over with Mr. Duke, he 
took the position, or asked me the question, 

[ 47 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


“How can China go on borrowing money at this 
rate, without making a provision to pay these 
debts by increasing her revenues or tariffs? If 
some steps are not taken by China to increase 
her revenues, there will be a serious condition.” 

Mr. Duke was in fact greatly interested in 
the future of China and thought that the gov- 
ernment should readjust its customs tariff on 
an upward scale, using the increased revenue to 
discharge the national obligations. For ex- 
ample, in 1914 two government officials asked 
me what I thought about increasing the tax on 
tobacco and cigarettes. I told them that it was 
a question that would have to be thoroughly 
considered, but that, if they wished me to do so, 
I would take it up with my principals. If the 
latter agreed, a plan would be worked out by 
which these taxes could be increased without 
affecting the industry. 

In 1912 our company had sent voluntarily 
two experts to Peking to study the question of 
taxation on tobacco and cigarettes. When, in 
1914, Chinese government officials broached to 
me the matter of an increase of tobacco taxes, 

[ 48 ] 


JAMES B. DUKE AND THE EAST 


I at once cabled Mr. Duke, who replied that we 
should proceed with the matter. Therefore, 
with the aid of government officials, we worked 
out a scheme for increased revenue from to- 
bacco, satisfactory both to the company and to 
the Republic. But it was not put into operation, 
owing to the objection of one of the powers, 
which was at that time and has been since anxi- 
ous to curb the growth of the Chinese Republic. 

The Americans employed by the company 
adapted themselves to local conditions as far as 
was consistent with good business. Mr. Duke 
kept in close touch with what was going on. 
Not only did he have long talks with the men 
who had been in the Far East, but he regularly 
read the reports that were sent in. He had the 
confidence of every man in the company, high 
or low, though many of them he had never seen. 
In discussing a proposition in far-away China 
or India, the question always came up as to 
whether Mr. Duke would approve the policy 
chosen. If the project were submitted to him, 
even after it had been put into effect, his advice 
and counsel were always helpful. 

[49 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


On one occasion I mentioned to Mr. Duke 
that every piece of machinery owned by the 
company in China was running twenty-four 
hours a day. I was much pleased to be able to 
report this. Immediately he replied: “You get 
a good piece of land and build another factory 
atonce. If you are working a staff twenty-four 
hours a day in shifts, it is expecting to much of 
them, so build another factory.” He straight- 
way gave me a rough outline of the factory I 
was to build. On my return to Shanghai I set 
to work to have the drawings made. Twelve 
days later Mr. Duke cabled to know if I had 
bought the land and was proceeding with the 
factory. I cabled in reply that the plans were 
nearly completed and that I was leaving that 
night for the town where the factory was to be 
built. The journey took four days. Two days 
after my arrival I bought the land and let the 
contract for the building. The factory was 
completed in about six months and put into op- 
eration. Training the labor was quite a task. 
However, the factory was soon turning out two 
million cigarettes a day. 

[ 50] 


JAMES B. DUKE AND THE EAST 


When next I arrived in New York, Mr. Duke 
asked me about the factory and its operation, 
saying that he never thought I would build a 
monument to myself in China; but that he con- 
sidered the new factory a monument, since it 
was only producing two million cigarettes a day. 
I explained that we had been handicapped by 
having to train the labor, but now that this had 
been accomplished we were in a position to have 
that factory turn out more cigarettes. I sent a 
cable ordering the increase. 

James B. Duke was the greatest merchant I 
ever met. The organization that he built up 
was nearly perfect. It developed a remarkable 
esprit de corps, which he nursed continually. He 
trained men to do a certain class of work and 
carefully watched them in their performance. 
No one was given work for which he had no 
capacity, but each was given as much responsi- 
bility as he could successfully carry. I recall 
talking to him about an employeé whom we both 
knew. He was a man of good character and 
habits, but he frequently complained about his 
lot and did not have the power of application. 

[51] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


He continually wanted to change the product 
given him to sell into something that he imag- 
ined would sell better. He was the type of man 
who does not go fully into any subject and is 
willing to make a change without good reason. 
Mr. Duke asked me what was the matter with 
this man. I replied that I did not know, al- 
though I had tried hard to find out; but that it 
appeared to me his dissatisfaction tended to 
disturb the esprit de corps of the district in 
which he was working. Finally, Mr. Duke 
directed me to send this man a cablegram, 
reducing his salary by fifty per cent. I asked 
Mr. Duke if he thought the man would resign. 
He smiled and said no, but that it would be a 
good test of his outlook upon life and his future 
usefulness to the company. The man did not 
resign. He accepted the reduced salary, but 
continued the complaints until his resignation 
was demanded some months later. 

Mr. Duke’s ability was such that he could 
suggest a policy for a country that he had never 
visited, which when carried into effect was suc- 
cessful. Once we were discussing the question 

[ 52] 


JAMES B. DUKE AND THE EAST 


of the advance in price of certain raw materials 
which go into the manufacture of cigarettes. 
He stated that it would necessitate a certain 
immediate advance in the price of cigarettes 
throughout the world and suggested that I send 
a circular cable authorizing the advance. I told 
him that I would consider the matter and reply 
the next morning. He was quite willing to give 
me twenty-four hours’ grace to go into the 
problem. | 
A colleague suggested to me that this was a 
risky experiment, that if the advance in price 
caused the business to drop off, I would’ be 
blamed for it and might lose my position, and 
that I should know exactly to what extent the 
price could be raised without affecting the vol- 
ume of the trade. This was at five o’clock in the 
afternoon. I set to work, and by ten o’clock the 
following morning I had the circular message 
made out to increase the price of cigarettes all 
over the world by the amount that Mr. Duke 
had mentioned. I made an exception of one 
particular brand. I went into Mr. Duke’s office 
to give him the details. He advised me to be 
[53 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


very careful, as I would be held responsible if 
the business did decline. I told him that I had 
proved my figures, and that I was prepared to 
take the consequences of sending the cable. The 
order was sent. 

The next few days were anxious ones for me. 
I asked Mr. Duke frankly how he arrived at 
the advance in price without having made any 
calculations. In a few words he convinced me 
that he had already made the figures in his head. 
We were right. The business did not drop off; 
rather, it increased with the advance. 

It was a pleasure to work with a man so able 
and one so familiar with the capacities of others. 
He seemed to know human limitations, includ- 
ing his own. He made mistakes, but never the 
same mistake twice. He was constantly striv- 
ing to build an organization that could stand 
alone. On one occasion he asked me how many 
men I had working under me in the Far East, 
particularly in China, who could take my place 
if something happened to me. Ina few minutes 
I handed him a list of twelve men, some of 
whom he knew, who could take my place so 

[ 54] 


JAMES B. DUKE AND THE EAST 


that the business would go on as well as before. 
Figuratively, I stepped out of my office handing 
someone else my power of attorney. After a 
moment’s deliberation, Mr. Duke said that if I 
had trained twelve men to take my place, I de- 
served an increase in salary—and he gave it 
to me. 

In the work of organization it often hap- 
pened that a new scheme, which had been ex- 
amined and found good, was to be put into 
practice. The next step was to find a man in 
the company who could carry out the scheme. 
Mr. Duke knew his men so well that, in going 
over the list of eligibles, if the proper person 
were not available, the scheme was abandoned 
or held in abeyance until such a person was 
found. Our part of the organization in later 
years found employment for more than twenty- 
five thousand people, who were handled in such 
a way that each felt that he had a personal in- 
terest in the business. Every man had a chance 
and was treated justly. It was an organization 
of consent rather than force. It is my experi- 


[55] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


ence that nothing very big is ever accomplished 
by force. 

Although Mr. Duke never visited China, the 
Chinese knew him well and often used to ask 
me about him. On one occasion, a Chinese 
schoolboy, who spoke no English, wrote an 
essay on the life of James B. Duke, which he 
read in his school. His essay, although brief, 
was very characteristic. He stated that Mr. 
Duke had started as a poor boy, had built 
up a world-wide organization, and that he was a 
good man, looking after the people and mer- 
chants who bought his goods. He said, also, 
that Mr. Duke was very popular in China and 
that he was building a home in New Jersey to 
which he invited the Chinese to come, when they 
visited America—all of which was true. 

I had the essay translated and complimented 
the lad on what he had written. The boy started 
a collection among his friends, none of whom 
had ever met Mr. Duke. They gave sums rang- 
ing from a copper cent to five dollars. The 
money given by these three thousand Chinese 
was used to purchase two large lions carved in 

[ 56] 


JAMES B. DUKE AND THE EAST 


Ningpo, a town about one hundred and twenty 
miles from Shanghai, The lions were shipped 
to Mr. Duke’s New Jersey home as a present, 
together with an illuminated address from his 
Chinese friends. Mr. Duke greatly appreciated 
this gift. Later, he authorized a substantial 
sum of money to be given to the Chinese Famine 
Relief Committee of 1920. 

James B. Duke and his brother, Benjamin N. 
Duke, had one Chinese characteristic—filial 
piety. I have never known two men who so 
highly respected their father, Mr. Washington 
Duke. They constantly talked about him and 
put into practice the character-building precepts 
learned from him. I regard it as a privilege to 
have been associated with them and to have had 
a part in building up their organization. Al- 
though there were many rocky places in the 
road and many thousands of miles of difficult 
travel, I would gladly do it all over again, be- 
cause I believe it was worth while. We had a 
purpose, and to-day any farmer boy of North or 
South Carolina or Virginia can have the satis- 

[57] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


faction of knowing that the tobacco grown in 
his state goes to every part of the world. 

I never heard Mr. Duke speak ill of anyone 
in my life. If any man in the organization was 
not getting along well, Mr. Duke assisted him 
to qualify in the position that he held. He knew 
and took care of hismen. Moreover, he himself 
worked as hard as, or harder than, any of them. 

It was a stupendous task to plan a business to 
cover an entire foreign country. To make this 
possible, very simple business methods were 
developed. The native merchant could under- 
stand them and see the profit he was making. 
The charge was often violently made that Mr. 
Duke was head of a trust and was seeking only 
to benefit himself. But I often used to think as 
I watched a native smoking his cigarette that 
nothing in the world he could have bought at 
the price would have given him the same amount 
of pleasure and comfort. The volume of our 
business testifies to this. Mr. Duke’s theory 
was that it was just as important for the for- 
eign merchant to make a profit on the goods 
sold as it was for him to make one. The result 

[ 58 ] 


SHLLAYVIIO ONIXONS 


“AN ‘Avmoley surmay Aq 0J01 cf 


‘i 


JAMES B. DUKE AND THE EAST 


was that the native merchant who took up the 
sale of Duke tobacco continued to sell it. Also, 
it seemed absolutely necessary to create a good 
name among the Chinese, not only for the com- 
pany but for the individual men who repre- 
sented it. At the suggestion of Mr. Duke daily 
attention was given to this policy. 

Another great factor in the success of the 
American Tobacco Company was its method of 
distribution. Cigarettes from the United States 
were sold from the company’s own warehouses 
in the Orient directly to the native wholesalers 
and retailers. There were no middlemen. Prac- 
tically speaking, the product went directly from 
the factories to the consumer. This enabled us 
at all times to see that the business was con- 
ducted so as to win the confidence of the people. 
We secured and safeguarded that confidence in 
every way, knowing that it and our own 
adaptability were valuable foundations of the 
business. 

I have always thought that the amalgama- 
tion of the British and American tobacco inter- 
ests revealed strikingly the force of Mr. Duke’s 

[59] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


personality. In the latter part of July, 1902, I 
had come down from Calcutta to Bombay, and, 
on August 3, I received a cablegram to come 
immediately to London. There was a ship sail- 
ing at noon the next day on which I succeeded 
in getting a berth. On arriving in London later 
in the month, I called at the hotel mentioned in 
the cablegram and was told that Mr. Duke was 
not stopping there. It was about ten o’clock in 
the evening, but I decided to explain about the 
cable and requested the clerk to tell Mr. Duke 
that I had called and was stopping at a hotel 
nearby. The clerk then asked me to wait while 
he sent my card to the room. A few minutes 
later Mr. Duke joined me. Doubtless the clerk 
had had instructions to admit no callers. 

After a few minutes conversation about my 
trip, Mr. Duke told me that he wanted me to 
meet him the next day at twelve o’clock at a 
certain restaurant. At seven the next morning, 
he called at my hotel and said that although he 
would: meet me at lunch, he wanted me, in the 
meantime, to arrange a sailing for New York 
by the first ship. As there were a good many 

[ 60 ] 


JAMES B. DUKE AND THE EAST 


Americans in London who wanted to go home, 
he said that I would very likely have a difficult 
time in getting passage. If no other room were 
available, he suggested that perhaps I could get 
standing room. I carried out his instructions, 
though I did not succeed until about nine o’clock 
that evening, when some one gave up a berth. 
I left the next morning for Liverpool. 

The first I heard of the amalgamation of the 
British and American tobacco interests was the 
discussion in London. I kept what little I knew 
under my hat. But, arrived in New York, I 
was asked by some friends what I had heard. I 
replied that there was a rumor of the amalgama- 
tion being discussed, but that I did not know 
any of the details, which was perfectly true. I 
was ordered to return to London immediately. 
I had brought over a parcel of papers without 
knowledge of their contents, and I took back to 
Mr. Duke in London another parcel, of which 
I did not know the contents. 

The amalgamation did take place, and I was 
introduced to a good many of our English 
_ friends. Among these British gentlemen was 
[61] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


a young man trained in the tobacco trade, with 
whom Mr. Duke asked me to become acquainted. 
We went to lunch together, and on my return 
Mr. Duke asked me what I thought of him. 
My reply was, that I was certain that we could 
live together and that I regarded him as a man 
of great ability. Mr. Duke seemed to agree 
and gave him a promotion. 

No sooner had the amalgamation taken place 
than Mr. Duke set to work to prove beyond per- 
adventure of a doubt that he regarded the union 
as fostering not only American interests, but~ 
those of the consolidated personnel. He seemed 
to grasp the British point of view and handled 
all affairs in such a way as to gain the entire 
confidence of his new partners. 

So far as I was able to judge, there never 
was any serious international ill feeling in the 
combined interests. The negotiations and con- 
duct of the merger were always pleasant and 
agreeable. Mr. Duke’s great personality was 
largely responsible for this. When he thought 
he was right, he never wavered. He was never 
swept off his feet. He went right on handling 

[ 62 ] 


JAMES B. DUKE AND THE EAST 


any question that came to him in a way that not 
only satisfied everyone, but also commanded the 
greatest respect for him. 

Mr. Duke was a leader. His vision, fore- 
sight, and mercantile ability would have made 
him successful in any business he might have 
undertaken. The great enterprise, of which he 
must have been proud, was founded in Durham, 
North Carolina. It was put together so simply 
that it could be understood in any part of the 
world. His leadership and that of his associ- 
ates made romance of merchandising. If noth- 
ing succeeds like success, neither is anything 
ever as bad as it looks. We found rocky places 
in the road, but they were only stepping-stones 
to the goal. 


[ 63 ] 


CHAPTER IV 
SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


T Is fascinating to have something to sell, 

with the world for a market. The cigarette 
finds such a market. The task of working out 
a system of economic distribution of cigarettes 
in the countries which I visited was one that 
interested me, for I could daily see the results of 
my work. Cigarette smoking is an interna- 
tional language, so to speak. In America, we 
speak English; the Chinese speak Chinese; the 
Indian has his own language; each is different. 
But all smoke cigarettes. 

We adopted the plan of shipping cigareee 
directly from the factories in America and 
England to our wholesale dealers in the East 
and of selling through them to the retail deal- 
ers. The retailer purchased from our depots the 
goods he needed from day to day, for which he 
paid cash. This prevented his having any shop- 
worn or damaged supplies. The reports from 
these depots throughout China gave us infor- 
mation regarding the purchasing power of the 

[ 64 ] 


BeleING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


people, the crops that they grew, and the gen- 
eral condition of the country; all of which as- 
sisted us greatly in regulating the stock of 
goods to be carried at any given point. If busi- 
ness was bad in one town, it was probably good 
in another, and the average was satisfactory. 

This system of distribution worked well. In 
organizing the scheme, we found it necessary 
to become acquainted with people in all the 
towns where depots were located. These towns 
were quite close together. We adopted the 
broad practice of always taking up and investi- 
gating any complaint made by a client of the 
company. Whether we thought the complaint 
valid or not, we settled to the satisfaction of the 
customer. We did this in order to retain his 
confidence, on the assumption that confidence 
largely rules the world. We had no fixed plan 
of organization in the beginning, but by using 
good judgment, we attempted to meet as nearly 
as possible the conditions of the different dis- 
tricts we supplied with cigarettes. We tried to 
observe the local commercial etiquette and to 
~ deal so that our clients could thoroughly under- 
[ 65 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


stand and approve the system of marketing. It 
is a remarkable fact that in establishing this 
organization and later in pursuing the business 
vigorously, we never had a law suit with a 
customer. 

One of our principles was to try to improve 
living conditions in any country where we were 
distributing our products. Once I was in Shan- 
tung Province with a very intelligent Chinese 
gentleman, named Tein, who was in the employ 
of the British-American Tobacco Company. It 
was summer, and that part of China was very 
hot. We were sitting under a tree having our 
midday meal, conversing about the country, its 
people and customs. At that time Shantung 
Province was considered one of the poorest in 
China. While we were talking, a big strong 
young native, about twenty years old, passed 
us pushing a wheelbarrow. The wheel of a 
Chinese barrow is about three feet, six inches 
high and is so built that a perfect balance of 
the wheel can be made by the man pushing. 
Mr. Tein remarked: “See that young man? 
His ambition in life is to push that wheelbar- 

[ 66 ] 


SHELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


row. No doubt, his father before him did the 
same thing. If it were possible to educate that 
man, it would be a splendid piece of work and 
would be of great benefit to the country.” I re- 
plied: “Why not start a school right here?’ He 
agreed to assist me. 

We bought a piece of land and gave out 
notice that we were going to build a school for 
the sons of the farmers in that district, and 
that if the farmers wished to do so, they could 
contribute brick, lime, or anything that they 
wished. We added that when the school was 
built, it would belong to the farmers and their 
children. No sooner had this notice gone out 
than the farmers commenced to bring in all 
sorts of materials. The school was built with a 
brick fence around it and a dormitory in which 
the boys were to live. Each pupil was provided 
with a uniform. On the campus, which com- 
prised about four acres, was put a flag-pole. 
The Chinese flag was run up every morning by 
the boys and brought down by them every eve- 
ning with due honors. Competent teachers 
were engaged. 

[ 67 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


The school started with about forty boys. 
The second year the attendance went up to 
over a hundred; in the third there were one 
hundred and seventy-five pupils, and a new 
building had to be erected. This school was 
under the supervision of the government, was 
visited by influential Chinese, and was held in 
high esteem by them. Mr. Tein was always 
very proud of the place and was highly re- 
garded throughout the school district. The 
boys were given positions as soon as they had 
mastered what the school could give them; viz., 
a good sound elementary education in Chinese. 
The school was provided with books, and on 
occasion lectures were given on different sub- 
jects, but principally on agriculture, seed, and 
fertilizers. 

This school was such a success in every way 
that another was established in a town about 
two hundred and fifty miles away. The com- 
pany maintenance of these schools rounded out 
a program which is still most effective. For in- 
stance, we took a boy off the farm, gave him an 
elementary education, found him a position 

[ 68 ] 


SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


with the company, and assisted him in general 
to improve his lot. The boys thus educated 
have proved to be useful young men, taking a 
hand in developing their country. 

When I first went to China, Korea was a 
part of that great country. On my arrival in 
Chemulpo, Korea, in 1897, my objective was 
Seoul, about fifty miles away. I did not speak 
the language, and there was no railroad. My 
transportation had to be by pony. I engaged 
one and a man to go with me; the cost of both 
was a dollar and a half. Near Seoul I had to 
pay two and a half dollars ferry boat charge. I 
made this journey in one day, starting about 
four o’clock in the morning. By and by the sun 
came up, giving me a chance to view the topog- 
raphy of the country. There was very little 
vegetation, no trees in fact. It was a lonely 
road, and after riding for some miles, I decided 
that I would walk. 

I walked a good portion of the way, arriving 
in Seoul about nine o’clock that evening. I had 
quite an argument with the officer at the city 
gate as to whether he would let me in for the 

[ 69 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


night. I spoke no Korean, Chinese, or Japa- 
nese, but endeavored to pantomime to the offi- 
cer that it was necessary for me to get into 
Seoul that evening to a hotel, where I would 
spend the night. I tried to explain that early 
the next morning I would try to have my pass- 
port visaed, etc., but made no progress with the 
man, simply because he did not understand me, 
and I did not understand him. While this was 
going on, a Frenchman came up and saw my 
predicament. After a few words with the Ko- 
rean official, spoken in Korean by the French- 
man, I was welcomed to the city in a most hos- 
pitable way, and my friend very kindly piloted 
me to a little hotel, where I was made comforta- 
ble for the night. 

In those days Korea was referred to as the 
Hermit Kingdom, the white-garbed nation of 
the earth. The outer world, particularly Ameri- 
cans, knew very little about the country. Ko- 
reans all wear white clothes made from Chinese 
grass cloth or ramie. To make them comforta- 
ble in winter, they simply pad them with cotton. 
When Russia attempted to extend her influence 

[70 ] 


SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


in Korea, Japan became so alarmed that she 
declared war against Russia in 1904. 

After being in Seoul for a few days, I made 
the acquaintance of the American minister and 
his staff, who very kindly introduced me to 
their friends and to Korean merchants. I suc- 
ceeded in introducing our cigarettes into Korea 
in about three weeks. Some years afterward 
a factory was established in Chemulpo, which 
not only made cigarettes from tobacco grown 
in the two Carolinas and in Virginia, but also 
others from Korean tobacco. 

In our great mercantile undertaking, we at- 
tempted to keep our hands on anything that 
happened in the countries in which we were. 
This meant acquainting ourselves with the laws 
and commercial etiquette of the people. 

During the Chinese Revolution some mis- 
sionaries reported to me that they were out of 
touch with Sianfu, a city far in the interior of 
the country, where they had thirty-nine co- 
workers. They wanted to know if I could as- 
sist them in getting these missionaries out. 
Their proposal excited my interest. I selected 

[71] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


one of our men in whom I had great confidence 
to go out to Sianfu, a twelve-day’s horseback 
ride, and told him to locate the missionaries and 
bring them back to Peking. Through the gov- 
ernment telegraph I got into communication 
with a town twenty miles from Sianfu. The 
telegraph administration there consented to 
send a man into the city to see if the mission- 
aries were still there and, if so, whether they 
were being cared for. 

Meantime, our man was on the road to Si 
anfu. I received news that, though these in- 
terned missionaries were being looked after by 
Chinese officials, they were very anxious to get 
away. On arriving in Sianfu, our man called 
on the officials to arrange for the missionaries 
to leave. He brought them back to Tai Yuan 
Fu, Shansi Province, where I had arranged with 
the government to have a car and food for 
them. From here they went to Peking at our 
company’s expense. In this connection, I might 
add that the Chinese government made no 
charges for the railway transportation of these 
people and other assistance given me. 

[72] 


SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


We were more than once in a position to 
rush welcome aid to missionaries, because of 
our contact with Chinese government officials, 
who had sufficient confidence in us and our 
representatives to assist in any way that they 
could. In the province of Szechwan, which 
borders on Tibet, there is a prosperous, well- 
laid out town on the Chente plain called Chen- 
tefu. Once a number of missionaries who could 
not get out of this town enlisted the help of our 
company. Immediately we organized a scheme 
by which one of our trusted employeés went 
into Chentefu and brought the missionaries 
safely back to Chungking. 

In passing, I want to mention the resources 
of Szechwan Province, which has a population 
of 75,000,000 people. It has little contact with the 
rest of the world and is to all intents and pur- 
poses a self-contained country. One often finds 
in this mountainous province a person fifty 
years of age who has never been twenty-five miles 
from home. The people could easily live on 
what they produce in so far as food, clothing, 
etc., are concerned. 

[73] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


In my travels I kept a memorandum book in 
which I made detailed notes of the products of 
various parts of the world. Sometimes these 
notes were useful as an index of the purchas- 
ing power of a people. I remember noting a 
Chinese substitute for flax, a very strong fiber 
called ramie, or rhea. They make this fiber 
into a grass cloth which is used for clothing, 
table linens, and other goods exported to al- 
most all parts of the world. 

From Szechwan Province is shipped the finest 
class of goat skins. These bring a price of 
about one dollar a pound and are used in mak- 
ing ladies’ slippers and gloves. A large quan- 
tity of bristles used in making brushes is also 
exported. The Szechwan bristles are of very 
superior quality. 

The Yangtse and Yellow Rivers rise in Tibet 
about one hundred miles apart and flow in dif- 
ferent directions to the sea. The Yellow River, 
which often floods, is called “China’s Sorrow.” 
The Yangtse is the larger of the two and is 
navigable for about two thousand miles. Boat 
traffic between Ichang and Chungking, a dis- 

[74] 


SeewING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


tance of three hundred miles through the 
gorges of the Yangtse, has been going on for 
centuries. Most of the boats going up river are 
drawn by workmen tugging ropes fastened to 
the craft. Sometimes fifteen hundred Chinese 
work to pull one boat up the river. In recent 
years the stream is being navigated by power- 
ful steam-boats, but they have very little cargo 
space, and most of the traffic is by the old 
method. 

At Chungking, when the river is in flood, it is 
one hundred feet higher than at other times. 
The fall in level between Chungking and Ichang 
is about three hundred feet. The volume of 
water passing through the gorges makes it al- 
- most a mill race. A preliminary survey has 
shown that at least ten million horse power 
could be developed on this river between these 
two towns, but nothing has been done toward 
developing it. I suppose that some day this 
power will be developed, and when it is, it will 
be sufficient to run a railroad at least two hun- 
dred miles long and at the same time to supply 
power for a great many factories. 

[75] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


In the province of Kansu one journeys for 
forty-five days by horseback, cart, or camel 
from Kalgan to Lanchowfu. The country is 
sparsely populated, but the people are quite 
friendly and reliable. Lanchowfu is on the Yel- 
low River, and when that river is in flood, 
wool, hides, and skins are tied up in round 
bales, the outer covering of which are made 
from cow hides fastened together securely so 
as to resist water. These buoyant bales are 
thrown into the river and rolled down the 
stream. When they reach their destination, 
several hundred miles away, the wool, hides, 
skins, and other products are taken out, dried, 
put in order, and marketed. It is very difficult 
to get produce out of Kansu by any other way. 
I have seen excellent wheat sell there for thir- 
teen cents a bushel, when it was bringing a 
dollar and ten cents at the seaport fifteen hun- 
dred miles away. 

In passing through Kansu once a good many 
years ago, I noticed that licorice root grew wild 
almost all over the province. Knowing that the 
United States drew its supply of licorice root 

[ 76 ] 


SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


from Spain and Turkey, I assembled a few 
bales of the Kansu product and shipped them to 
America to have the quality tested. It was 
found to be good, but the cost of transportation 
from Kansu was so much greater than it was 
from Spain and Turkey that nothing was done 
toward exporting Kansu licorice. However, 
when the Great War broke out in 1914, and no 
further supply could be had from Turkey, I re- 
ceived a cablegram asking me to what extent I 
could furnish licorice root from China. With 
my first-hand information of the sources of the 
supply, I was in a position to ship one thousand 
tons of the stuff within a week. Six months 
later fifteen thousand tons more were sent, 
making the American users of licorice root 
practically independent of the European mar- 
kets. So the company felt fully repaid for my 
earlier attempt to find buyers for this Kansu 
product. We were often able to furnish infor- 
mation with regard to the location, price, and 
quantity of various raw materials of the coun- 
‘tries in which we did business. In the last 
[77] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


analysis, merchandising is glorified barter. If 
we sell, we must buy. 

I have been in places where I handed an 
American cigarette to a man in the street, only 
to have him bite it, trying to find out what it 
was for. When I discovered this, I immediately 
engaged someone to teach him how to light a 
cigarette with a match and how to smoke it. I 
paid this teacher to walk up and down the 
street lighting cigarettes and handing them to 
people he met. This demonstration work was 
followed by attractive advertising, which was 
planned to give the man who read it in his own 
language a clear idea of the pleasures of ciga- 
rette smoking. We tried to make these adver- 
tisements so attractive that people would deco- 
rate their homes with them, something they 
. had never thought of before. 

No one, perhaps, can ever realize the thrill I 
received in this work. I felt that I was building 
a structure that went straight back to my 
native state, one that would help the farmers 
there. Out in China, when I thought of 
North Carolina, I would have been willing to 

[78] 


SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


pay any price within my limited means for corn 
bread, salt herring, and black-eyed peas, the 
food I was accustomed to eat at home. Later 
on I brought these out with me. I made no 
complaint of the fare I received in foreign 
countries, but the food at home had left an im- 
pression that was lasting. I used to think that 
the food I ate as a boy was so good that there 
ought to be a law passed preventing its being 
shipped or sold—it was too good to sell. Al- 
though in the Eastern countries I could get 
practically all of the things to eat that I had 
known at home, they were not cooked in the 
same way and did not have the same taste. I 
longed for the chicken pies of my boyhood days. 
But the irony of the whole thing was, that when 
I came back home on a trip and ate the family 
chicken pie, it did not taste as good as the pie I 
had had elsewhere. 

I have said before that James B. Duke knew 
men. A great many of those he trained learned 
to know men also. A close record was kept of 
all members of the staff: their general bearing, 
impressions they made in business or social 

[79 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


contacts, their rendition of reports, specific 
abilities, and past achievements. Errors of 
judgment were recorded, as were indications of 
what a man could do in a crisis. The men knew 
about these records. We discussed a man’s 
limitations and abilities with him. The record 
was brought up-to-date every six months and 
enabled the company at any time to select an 
incumbent for a specific position. It was as if 
we had a photograph of a man, with his char- 
acter, habits, and ability. The records often 
told curious stories. 

Once we had, working in the same building, 
two good, able men who could not agree. There 
was always a difference between these two, but 
I could not discover what it was all about. 
However, when the state of affairs began to 
disturb the esprit de corps of the office, I called 
these two men together one morning and asked 
them what was the matter. I regretted to have 
to tell them that I thought their disagreement 
was affecting the espirit de corps of the busi- 
ness. I also said that the business had suc- 
ceeded before they came and would continue to 

[ 80] 


SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


succeed if they left; but that I hoped they 
would be able to come to some understanding at 
once. I proposed that we adjourn for thirty 
minutes to give them an opportunity of talking 
together privately. 

At the stated time, they returned to my office, 
shook hands, and promised that I would have 
no further cause for complaint. They said that 
they realized the justice of my position and that 
they had settled their differences. I asked them 
what was the misunderstanding. I believed 
that it had never.amounted to much. In fact, I 
knew all the time what the trouble was, but I 
hesitated to say so. It proved to be just as I 
thought. The wives of these two men were not 
friendly. If one bought a new dress, the other 
told her husband about it and insisted on hav- 
ing a new dress also. The attitudes of these 
women were reflected in their husbands, caus- 
ing a situation which almost cost them their 
jobs, which neither of them could afford to 
lose. 

I have often cooperated with a young man, 
giving him the benefit of what I and his associ- 

[ 81 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


ates knew, until he was well qualified for his 
work. Thus he came to know the world, people, 
conditions, and the business. Then, after years 
of work, I have seen him throw all to the four 
winds when he married; though, of course, he 
did not realize it. I have worked with men of 
ability whose failures I did not at first 
understand. I recall one man of ability, a man 
who never seemed satisfied with his position 
and did not hesitate to say so. He did not real- 
ize that his colleagues knew his ability as well 
as, or better, than he did. He was very positive 
about the position that he thought he should 
hold and was disappointed when he did not get 
it. I never understood him until I was invited 
to his house to dinner. The conversation cen- 
tered on our business. His wife pointed out to 
me what she considered errors of promotion in 
the company and criticised severely one in par- 
ticular. She did not think that the man in ques- 
tion deserved promotion; whereas her husband, 
who had much more ability and had proved 
his worth, should have been preferred. She 
said that she had been telling her husband this, 
[ 82 ] 


SEELING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


and that she thought he had made a mistake in 
not taking up his grievance directly with the 
heads of the business. She had gone so far as 
to write to a friend of hers to get in touch with 
one of the home directors to put her husband’s 
case before him. 

This was all discussed at dinner and revealed 
just why I had been invited. The food was ex- 
cellent, so I enjoyed myself nevertheless. My 
private opinion was, that if her friend saw the 
director at home, he would refer the matter 
back to Shanghai, where no action would be 
taken, bringing the company into further dis- 
repute as far as my hostess was concerned. 
Certainly, every woman thinks her husband is 
the greatest man alive. If she doesn’t, I think 
that she should. But the point is, that a man 
reflects his wife. I have often misunderstood 
a man until I met his wife; whereas, on meet- 
ing her, I could instantly account for certain 
points in his character and habits that had 
previously puzzled me. 

When I first went to Calcutta, I was told 
that the proper thing to do was to pay some 

[ 83] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


calls. The gentleman who suggested this to me 
gave me a calling list prepared by his wife. 
While making another visit later in the after- 
noon, I was given a different list. I was in a 
dilemma as to which I should use. I knew no 
one, but wanted to do the proper thing to es- 
tablish my social status. After thinking the 
matter over for several days, I decided that I 
must take some action. This meant donning a 
frock coat and top hat (frock coats were in 
vogue in those days) and paying these calls be- 
tween two and four in the afternoon, a hot time 
of day in Calcutta. I chose a beautiful after- 
noon, hoping that everyone would be out, and 
I could simply leave my cards and go on. I 
guessed right. In making twelve or fifteen 
calls, I found only two ladies in. At the first 
house I visited, I found the lady who had sent 
me the first of my lists. There were no other 
people there, though it was her day at home. 
She was very glad to see me and served the 
usual cup of tea. She advised me not to call on 
anyone whose name was not on the list she had 
prepared. 
[ 84] 


SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


However, in a spirit of fairness, I called on 
a lady from the second list and found her at 
home also. She was not as formal as the other 
woman, and said that she felt sorry for a man 
who had to pay calls in the Calcutta climate 
dressed in a frock coat; but that everybody 
conformed to the custom. I asked her why 
some lady in Calcutta, when announcing her 
“at-home” days, which were usually twice a 
month, did not suggest that the men come from 
their offices in business dress. I said that it 
took me all morning to get dressed to pay an 
afternoon call, and that when I did go, I was 
uncomfortable. I added that informal dress 
for such occasions would probably be very 
popular with the men. She laughed, but 
adopted the suggestion. At her next “at-home” 
there were over a hundred men, though she 
was frank to say that previously no more than 
four or five had ever called. 

Most of the Far Eastern representatives of 
the company in the early days were recruited 
from North Carolina and Virginia. There was 
no rule about this, but as most of the company’s 

[ 85 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


men at home came from these two states, they 
knew where to find assistants who from in- 
fancy had cultivated, cured, and manufactured 
tobacco, so that it was a second nature to them. 
In addition, these farm-bred boys were healthy, 
well-reared, and had a background of good 
character and good habits. They usually worked 
into the business very satisfactorily indeed. 
The term of service in China was four years, 
following which a man was given four months 
leave of absence to visit his family and friends 
back home. When he returned from his vaca- 
tion, the boys from his part of the country 
gathered around to hear the news. The boys 
always took something from China to the 
home folks and brought back from home some- 
thing to the others. This fostered a sort of 
community interest among the men in China. 
There was some rivalry among them, how- 
ever, as to the places from which they came. 
Each insisted that he was from one of the 
larger towns in his state. Once when this sub- 
ject was being discussed, one young North 
Carolinian asked another from what town he 
[ 86 ] 


SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


came. “Durham,” the second boy replied. How- 
ever, after some urging, he admitted that his 
birth-place was Rock House Creek. The first 
fellow said: “Well, I knew that all the time.” 
It was a peculiar thing that most of the boys 
claimed to come from big towns, though, as a 
matter of fact, most of them grew up ina small 
town, which I shall call Dullsboro. But what 
difference, so long as they came from North 
Carolina or Virginia! 

This reminds me of a remarkable young Vir- 
ginian, named Thomas Flournoy Cobbs. He 
told us that his native town was Danville; then 
he said he was from Chatham; but after an in- 
vestigation, we found that he really came from 
a rural community in Pittsylvania County on 
Turkey Cock Creek. His father was an in- 
fluential man, operating a successful farm. He 
was something of a politician. At any rate, he 
was appointed consul to Colon and took his 
young son, Tom Cobbs, with him as first secre- 
tary of the consulate. The climate of Colon is 
very trying, and the elder Mr. Cobbs did not 
like it. After being there a few months, he 

[ 87 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


went back to Virginia, leaving his son in 
charge. Business was very limited in those 
days, and there were few Americans in that 
part of the world. So Tom Cobbs filled the 
office of acting consul creditably and was later 
made consul. He had the usual library supplied 
by the United States Government and had read 
enough in it to enable him to refer to “page 
four, paragraph nine fifty-six, of the Revised 
Statutes of the United States.” Tom was a 
good talker. Visitors usually left the consulate 
without having received a direct answer to 
their questions, but perfectly satisfied that 
everything was going on all right. 

After being in office at Colon for some years, 
Tom decided to seek fortunes new. He and his 
partner had read in the papers about the gold 
discoveries in the Klondike. Tom had a pal 
who was his partner and with whom he kept a 
unique joint account. At the end.of the month 
when they received their salary checks, they 
cashed them and put the money into a lock box. 
When Tom needed ready cash, he went to the 
box, counted the money, took out fifty dollars, 

[ 88] 


SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


let us say, putting in an I. O. U. for it. If his 
partner wanted fifty dollars, he took out that 
amount and tore up Tom’s I. O. U. This 
balanced the cash again. It was a simple but 
effective system. . 

These two decided to go to Klondike, still 
working as partners. On their arrival in San 
Francisco, they found that a ship was soon to 
leave for that far-away frozen region. The 
steamship fare was two hundred and fifty dol- 
lars each, an amount they did not have. How- 
ever, they got in touch with the Captain of the 
steamer and convinced him that they were 
qualified accountants. For a consideration of 
thirty-five dollars and their agreement to assist 
the purser in making up the accounts for the 
voyage, he gave them passage. For sleeping 
accommodations, they had the back of a seat in 
the saloon, which was pulled up for them at 
night. This made little difference to them, as 
their chief objective was Nome and gold. 

In Alaska they soon located a placer claim 
and set to work to wash out the gold. The first 
few days they were very successful and found 

[89 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


quite a snug little amount of the pure metal. 
But after a few weeks, the placer petered out. 
As they had about decided that they were not 
gold miners, they returned to New York. Here 
it was necessary for them to get work at the 
earliest possible moment. This brought about 
the dissolution of the partnership. However, 
their accounts were not difficult to settle. 

Tom Cobbs found a position which sent him 
out to China to join me. He set to work im- 
mediately and soon had a large acquaintance. 
In the course of a few months, he found 
another boon companion. They rented a fur- 
nished house and went to housekeeping. At 
Christmas time about twenty of Tom’s friends 
were invited to dinner, which was prepared and 
served in good old Virginia style with roast 
turkey, ham, cranberry sauce, celery, and 
everything that goes with Christmas dinner. 
Although we were far from the pie belt of Vir- 
ginia, we had pie. I can’t remember whether it 
was thirteen pies or thirteen different kinds of 
pie. As it was Christmas, Tom insisted on 
carving the turkey and ham himself. He was a 

[90 ] 


SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


genial host, talking most of the time. At inter- 
vals, he would pick up the steel and whet the | 
carving knife. At the end of three quarters of 
an hour he had served eighteen people and sat 
down, leaving me and another guest without 
anything to eat. When his attention was called 
to the omission, he apologized profusely. We 
were served, and the party was on. 

That evening Tom grew reminiscent and in- 
sisted on giving us an outline of his career. At 
the beginning he stated that he was twenty-six 
years of age; that he had been born in Vir- 
ginia, had been United States consul at Colon 
for so many years, a gold miner in Alaska for 
so many months, and in school for so many 
years before coming to China. As Tom told 
this story, it was perfectly clear that he was a 
man of great ability and foresight. 

Before the dinner was over, I was asked to 
make a few remarks. As I remember them, 
they were somewhat as follows: “I am always 
at a disadvantage when called upon to make an 
after-dinner speech. If I am warned in ad- 
vance, I lock myself up in the library for two 

[91] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


or three days and am cross to everyone around 
the house. If I do not receive notice, I am un- 
able to eat my dinner for fear that I will be 
asked to say something. In this;instance, gen- 
tlemen, Mr. Cobbs anticipated my feeling and 
gave me no dinner until I asked for it. And if 
I am not asked to make a speech, I am made 
uncomfortable by feeling that I really should 
have been asked. 

“Virginia, the great state of Virginia, from 
which our host hails, claims many remarkable 
men. She is known throughout the world as 
the ‘mother of Presidents.’ (I was using my 
best oratorical effort, which I thought the oc- 
casion demanded.) Our host has told us of his 
most interesting life. But try as I may, I can 
hardly reconcile his career with his being only 
twenty-six years old. We all know when he 
came to China. If he was at school, consul at 
Colon, and a miner in the Klondike for as long 
as he says, I find in putting his figures together 
the astounding and remarkable fact that Mr. 
Cobbs was only four years of age when he was 
United States consul in Colon.” I had used his 

[92] 


SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


own figures; he finally had to qualify them and 
admit that he was now past forty years of age. 

Cobbs knew everybody and was very popu- 
lar. His resourcefulness brought him through 
many hair-raising adventures. In New York 
on one of his trips home, after five years in 
China, he first saw motor cars. They interested 
him enormously. He found a salesman, and 
after riding about New York streets for a 
couple of days in a motor car, he bought three 
and shipped them out to China. Pending his 
return, they were put into a storage warehouse. 

The very day he got back he had one un- 
packed. He had quite an audience to see the 
car put together and to watch the necessary 
preparations for a ride around the city. He 
explained to us the technique of the car, using 
such words as tonneau, chassis, chauffeur, and 
carburetor. I decided that he was employing 
these high-sounding technical terms just because 
we didn’t know what they meant. Eventually, 
the car was ready, and he asked a friend to ride 
with him. The invitation was accepted. Tom 
began to manipulate the machinery, and pres- 

[93 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


ently the car jumped. For a moment he lost 
control of it, but got it out onto the street and 
turned it sharply around, only to hit five or six 
rikishas, which he mowed down and broke up 
amid the yells of the rikisha men and the fright 
of his friends. In the most complacent manner 
he explained that everything was all right, but 
that the carburetor was not working very well. . 

It was quite an event, this motor car. Tom 
invited our very worthy United States Consul- 
General in Shanghai to take a ride with him. 
They started out to the Gun Club, with some of 
the rest of us trailing along behind in a buggy. 
Cobbs was explaining the car to the Consul-Gen- 
eral—what it would do, its mileage per hour, 
and that sort of thing—when, about half way 
to the Gun Club, they came to a turn in the road. 
I don’t know whether the road was at fault or 
the car, but something went wrong, and the car 
ran into a ditch, pitching our Consul-General 
over the windshield onto the far bank, where 
he landed on his stomach. We ran up and, after 
seeing that the Consul-General was not seriously 
hurt, assisted in pulling the car out of the ditch. 

[ 94] 


SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


I told Cobbs that I didn’t care what he did to 
the car, but that I would hate to see him kill 
our Consul-General. Tom was not to be outdone. 
He got the car back on the road and finally 
landed at the Gun Club. As time went on, he 
learned to manage the car without any difficulty. 

Another story gives an insight into Cobbs’ 
ability. Just after the Russo-Japanese War, he 
was on the Yellow Sea in a ship. One fine 
morning a contact mine was sighted just off 
the port bow, and quite a commotion ensued on 
board. Cobbs immediately took charge, in- 
structing the passengers to keep perfectly quiet 
and to stand close up to the deck house. He 
quickly opened his gun case, which he always 
carried with him, and took out one of his prize 
guns. By good luck he hit the percussion cap 
first shot, exploding the mine. Then he ordered 
the ship to proceed. This was another of his 
hair-breadth escapes, none of which ever inter- 
fered with his loyalty to the company and his 
ability to distribute cigarettes. 

The entire staff traveled a great deal, thereby 
becoming quite familiar with ships, both mer- 

[95 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


chant and naval. We came to know many of 
their officers, whom we always enjoyed meeting. 
A sailor on an American warship resents being 
called by any name ending in “ie.” Call him a 
“Jackie” or a “Tommie,” and he is ready to fight 
anybody. Just why this is, I do not know, but 
it is nevertheless true. But call him a “gob,” 
and he will be pleased. 

During the revolution in China a consider- 
able part of the United States navy came to the 
Chinese coast to protect American lives and 
property. Lying in the harbor at Shanghai 
was an American naval vessel, whose officers 
we knew very well. There were two ensigns, 
very fine young boys, who had just come out of 
the Naval Academy to their first sea duty. They 
were great friends. I will call them Ben and 
Bob. 

The daughter of an officer on one of these 
naval vessels on the China coast was staying 
in Shanghai with her mother. The girl was 
very good-looking and popular with the young 
naval officers. Wishing to pay her a nice com- 
pliment, I decided to give a party in her honor. 

[ 96 ] 


SEELING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


For this occasion I asked the Admiral of the fleet 
to lend me his band, which he very kindly did, 
and I invited about fifty people, including Bob 
and Ben. On the day of the party, the Captain 
of the ship on which they were stationed notified 
Ben that he was to be officer of the deck, his 
duties to commence at four o’clock in the after- 
noon. This would prevent Ben from attending 
the party. Bob heard about the appointment, 
and about five o’clock in the afternoon he came 
along the deck, found Ben on duty, and re- 
quested a loan of five dollars. Ben said: “No, 
why should I lend you five dollars to go ashore 
to see my girl?” Though Bob didn’t get the . 
five dollars from Ben, he did get it from one of 
the other officers. Putting on his full-dress uni- 
form, he went ashore in a barge to attend the 
party. 

No sooner had he left the ship than Ben went 
to the Captain’s cabin and reported that Ensign 
Bob had gone ashore without permission of the 
officer of the deck. The Captain told Ben to 
notify Ensign Bob to be at the mainmast next 
morning at nine o’clock for discipline. About 

[97] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


two o’clock that night, Bob came aboard and 
said to Ben, who was still on duty: “Well, I 
went ashore to see my girl and had a good time.” 
Whereupon Ben notified him of the Captain’s 
order. The next morning promptly at nine, 
Bob came to take his discipline. Ben was 
standing over to one side behind a boat where 
he could hear everything that was said. He 
seemed quite satisfied with the punishment Bob 
received. 

Bob married the young lady. Some three or 
four months later, from a ship still a thousand 
miles or more away from Shanghai, I received a 
cable which read as follows: “Married a widow 
with one child today. Ben.” I sent congratu- 
lations by return cable, which I followed by a 
letter saying that if his bride should come to 
Shanghai, he must let me know, as I would be 
very glad, of course, to meet her and do what- 
ever I could to make her visit there enjoyable. 
Two or three weeks later I had a letter from 
him saying that his wife was coming to Shang- 
hai. I met the lady at the wharf and called her 
by Ben’s name. She said that there must be 

[ 98] 


SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


some mistake, that Ben was married to her 
daughter. She was very eager to know how I 
made the mistake. I explained about Ben’s 
message to me. In his enthusiasm to let me 
know that he was married, he had worded the 
cablegram somewhat ambiguously, which is 
often done. 

This reminds me of a very reliable young 
man whom we had in charge of a factory in 
Johannesburg. He thoroughly understood the 
manufacture of cigarettes and had the respect 
of the company and of his colleagues. The head 
of the business in that district lived in Cape 
Town. Early one morning he received a tele- 
gram from the manager of the factory in 
Johannesburg, which read as follows: “Five 
unsuccessful attempts to burn the factory.” 
The telegram, written in plain English, was 
signed with the manager’s name. A few hours 
after he had sent the telegram, he received 
notice from the insurance company that all the 
insurance had been canceled. Following this, 
the police called to put him under arrest. It 
seems that there was a strict censorship on all 

[ 99] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


telegrams being sent from Johannesburg to 
Cape Town at that time. No sooner had the 
telegram been sent, than a copy of it was given 
to the police, who jumped at the conclusion that 
the manager of this factory himself had made 
five unsuccessful attempts to burn the factory 
the night before. What he had intended to say 
was that someone else had made five unsuccess- 
ful attempts to burn the factory of which he 
was manager. It took two or three weeks to 
convince the police that he was not the culprit, 
but his innocence was finally proved. This goes 
to show how particular one must be in writing 
letters or telegrams. In this case it was neces- 
sary for the company to transfer that manager 
to another part of the world, although they 
were confident of his innocence in this affair. 
A new manager was installed, and the insurance 
was immediately renewed. 

In our work we came into contact with a 
great many consular officials, with many of 
whom we became well acquainted, so much so 
that we felt free to call upon them in case of 
necessity. In return, we gave them a good deal 

[ 100 ] 


SELLING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


of information regarding conditions in the 
country through which we had traveled and gen- 
eral information which assisted them in writing 
their reports. One whom I remember was an 
“appointee of President Roosevelt, who had as- 
signed him to a position in Zanzibar, as he was 
quite an authority on big game hunting. After 
being in Zanzibar for several years, he was 
transferred to a consulate at Chungking, a port 
two thousand miles up the Yangtse from Shang- 
hai. Wanting a little vacation from Chung- 
king, he came down to Shanghai, and we gave 
him a dinner. He had been very kind to our 
young men located at Chungking, so we wanted 
to meet him and return his hospitality. The 
dinner was graced by several American govern- 
ment officials. During the course of the dinner, 
‘the former Consul at Zanzibar told us of his 
experiences in big game shooting in Africa. 
On one occasion he had started out from 
Zanzibar with his caravan of about two hun- 
dred natives. When they reached the plateau 
country about two weeks later, a native carrier 
informed him one day that they had run out of 
[101 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


meat. The Consul became very indignant at 
this information and reprimanded the carrier 
for not letting him know earlier that they were 
running short. That night, however, he col- 
lected his rifles and with his party made plans 
for a hunt. Starting from the main caravan 
about four o’clock in the morning, they went 
across the plain in search of big game. During 
the day they killed several hippopotamuses, rhi- 
noceroses, giraffes, elephants, and tigers, which 
they immediately dressed, taking the meat back 
to the caravan, which proceeded on its journey. 

The man told this story very interestingly. 
One of our company, who was also something 
of a big-game hunter (I refer now to Tom 
Cobbs), asked the Consul how much the hippo- 
potamuses had weighed and the weight of the 
other animals he had killed. The Consul gave 
him the approximate weight of each of these 
animals. Cobbs totalled the amounts and found 
that the meat weighed over seventy-five thou- 
sand pounds. He asked the Consul how it was 
possible for him with only two hundred bearers 
in his caravan to have this meat dressed and 

[ 102 ] 


SeeeING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


transported. This question somewhat embar- 
rassed the géntleman, so that he qualified his 
statement by saying that they took only such 
portions of the meat as they wanted, leaving the 
hoofs, horns, and hides of the beasts. We had 
a good laugh at this. Really, there was no rea- 
son to doubt but that the Consul had killed a 
great many wild animals. We were so much 
pleased when this man informed the party that 
our cigarettes were being smoked not only by 
himself, but by his two hundred carriers that 
we forgave him for the enormous quantity of 
meat that he killed, which he no doubt found 
sufficient for his wants, not only for the re- 
mainder of his journey, but for the return to 
Zanzibar as well. 

Meeting all kinds and conditions of men, one 
is impressed by the great differences among 
them in character, habits, mannerisms, and cus- 
toms. Inthe early days of building up our force 
in the Far East, we employed only unmarried 
men twenty-five years of age or younger. It 
seemed unwise to take them over this age or 
married. We felt that a married man would be 

[ 103 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


handicapped working in the interior of the 
country, since his wife could not go all the way 
with him. But as the business grew, times 
changed. These young men’s salaries were in- 
creased, and when they went home on leave, 
matrimony came into the picture. The wives 
of most of these young men were what I call 
“Ruth’s-appeal-to-Naomi” wives, women who 
were willing to leave their homes, go to a for- 
eign country, and take a chance on making a 
success there. 

Nothing that I know of will cause a young 
man to brush his clothes more carefully than 
becoming interested in a young woman. We 
could always tell from a boy’s preparations to 
go on leave whether he was interested in a girl 
at home by the clothes he bought and the way 
in which he had them pressed. We pictured to 
ourselves just what he would do and say when 
he reached home and met her. For aught we 
knew, it would be in the parlor of her home. 
Under a shaded light, she would play the piano, 
giving him an opportunity to propose. This is 
the way he dreamed of it, but as nearly as I 

[ 104 ] 


SELEING CIGARETTES IN THE EAST 


could find out, he actually asked her at a picnic 
or at a party. 

Usually the boy who married while at home 
on leave cabled the news to us. On his return 
with his bride, we gave hima party. Preparing 
for these receptions was one. of our favorite 
diversions. We always gave the couple a use- 
ful wedding present. In this connection I may 
say that I always gave the Autobiography of 
Benjamin Franklin. Though the gift was ac- 
cepted, it was never very pleasing to the bride. 

But to get back to the differences in men. 
My belief is that environment plays a large part 
in determining them. The influences of the 
formative years of a man’s life always show 
later. Youthful impressions are lasting. In 
selecting men to fill foreign posts, this matter 
of environment was always taken into consider- 
ation. A strict and fair analysis of a man’s 
deportment, ability, character, and habits was 
written up every six months. If at the end of a 
year, he did not average two and a fourth out of 
a possible five points, we found by actual ex- 
perience that it was not wise to retain his serv- 

[ 105 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


ices. In the long run, the proportion of men 
retained was two out of five. That is, if five 
men accepted a position in the company at the 
same time, at the end of one year usually three 
of them dropped out because they were not able 
to measure up to standard. The principal cause 
of the failures seemed to be that the men lacked 
self-reliance and continually complained about 
circumstances over which they had no control. 
They wore themselves out, so to speak, by not 
accepting conditions as they found them and 
making the best of things. 

I always had a distinct aversion to increasing 
a man’s salary, regardless of what it was, unless 
he had saved a portion of his earnings. My 
reason was, that if a man saved his own money, 
he would save the company’s money. Thrift 
always shows. No one ever had to ask me for 
an increase in salary if I knew he deserved it. 
I always made it my business to find out who 
was and who was not deserving. From long 
observation, I should say that the man who asks 
for a raise in salary is the one who is not saving 
any portion of it. 

[ 106 ] 


CHAPTER V 
CHINESE BUSINESS METHODS 


HAVE always had a very high regard for Chi- 
rE... merchants. They have a fine sense of 
commercial ethics. Once having established a 
business connection, they are quite faithful to it. 
They trade with each other month after month 
in perfect confidence. Running accounts are 
kept right through the year, and at New Year, 
when the difference is settled, it seldom amounts 
to more than a few dollars. A merchant in the 
interior of the country shipping produce will 
order supplies through the dealer who sells his 
goods. Ifa particular market declines, leaving 
a Chinese merchant well-stocked with wares 
bought at a higher price, he usually sells them 
at the best price obtainable, takes his loss, and 
re-invests the money in merchandise on which 
he can make a profit. 

These merchants do business on a very small 
margin, but most of them make some profit. I 
never experienced a loss at the hands of a Chi- 
nese merchant. His bills are paid promptly in 

[ 107 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


strict accordance with the terms of the agree- 
ment. He knows his markets well; what will 
sell and what is the value of the produce grown 
in his district. The most serious mistake one 
can make with him is to sell him something for 
which there is no demand or to sell him more 
goods than he should buy at one time. In fact, 
it is bad salesmanship to oversell a merchant in 
any part of the world. However, very few 
Chinese merchants overbuy. 

Chinese business houses are very effectively 
organized. There is a manager whose decisions 
rule the entire business. The clerks are paid 
low salaries and are furnished living quar- 
ters and food at the expense of the firm. At 
the end of the year a percentage of the net 
profits is divided among the entire force, from 
the highest to the lowest. This promotes a good 
esprit de corps; at the same time, it helps to 
eliminate carelessness, for the members of the 
staff know that it behooves them to prevent 
waste or useless expenditure in order to increase 
their bonus at New Year. 

The Chinese have very few business holidays. 

[ 108 ] 


MR. CHEANG PARK CHEW 


MAN OF AFFAIRS AND CHINA’S LARGEST TOBACCO MERCHANT 


CHINESE BUSINESS METHODS 


The Dragon Festival in the spring and the Au- 
tumn Festival in October are general holidays, 
observed throughout the country. But at Chi- 
nese New Year all business stops for ten days. 
The Chinese prefer having their holidays all at 
one time to having them scattered through the 
year. 

Chinese merchants like to know their credit 
rating with the people from whom they buy. A 
merchant in the far interior of the country, with 
whom we had been doing business for some 
years and of whose account we thought a great 
deal, once asked me if I would make him a loan 
of ten thousand dollars or credit him with that 
amount. As he had always paid cash for his 
goods and owed us nothing at the time, his re- 
quest came as a surprise. However, I told him 
that we would be very glad at any time to allow 
him that amount. Whereupon, he replied that 
he did not need the credit. He merely wanted 
to ascertain how much confidence we had in him. 
He was very much pleased by our willingness 
to allow him ten thousand dollars and repaid 
our confidence by opening a cash credit of 

[ 109 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


twenty thousand dollars in his favor to be used 
for the goods he later ordered as needed. 

When the confidence of a Chinese merchant 
has been gained, business can be carried on in a 
routine way without any fear of loss. For him 
to go into bankruptcy, which is seldom done, is 
a disgrace, not only to the merchant but to his 
entire family. A dealer who does not pay, or 
cannot pay, his obligations at New Year is also 
in great disgrace. I have known merchants who 
mortgaged everything they had to meet their 
payments at that time. By doing so they were 
able to continue in business. When a Chinese 
merchant does go bankrupt, his place of business 
is immediately closed. Large posters are put 
on the front door, naming his creditors with the 
amount he owes each and the probable value of 
his assets. Anyone walking along the street can 
see the exact financial condition of the bank- 
rupt in as much detail as his banker. In many 
parts of China it is also a disgrace to sell fam- 
ily land. The popular feeling is that land 
handed down by one’s forefathers constitutes a 
trust, which a man betrays if he disposes of it. 

[ 110 ] 


CHINESE BUSINESS METHODS 


The Chinese love to speculate. They trade in 
grain, hides, skins, all kinds of produce, silver, 
and gold. When buying produce, they get it 
direct from the farmer at the market price and 
take a chance on an increase. The Chinese 
speculator, however, is in that business only. 
One seldom sees a Chinese merchant who specu- 
lates, except the grain or bullion merchants, 
who confine themselves to their particular field. 
It seems to be a part of the Chinese nature to 
bargain. No sooner has a tentative understand- 
ing been reached between two parties than often 
one of them will inject into the agreement some- 
thing not mentioned before, hoping to make a 
better bargain. 

Most of the businesses are conducted by 
partnerships. The Chinese are not yet gener- 
ally familiar with joint-stock companies, con- 
ducted in a thoroughly systematic manner, and 
paying regular dividends. There are, however, 
a growing number of companies organized on 
this basis. As the Chinese will invest their 
money very freely if they know that the invest- 
ment will pay regular dividends, joint-stock 

[111] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


companies, issuing bonds and preferred and 
common stock, will. bring out of hiding a lot of 
money which is now being hoarded. 

Recently, the Chinese have taken up the idea 
of having certified accountants to audit their 
books yearly. There has been very little done 
in the field of cost accounting, but this will 
come; when it does, a Chinese merchant or 
manufacturer will know more definitely what 
his actual costs and profits are. 

The merchants of the Treaty Ports of China 
are different from those in the interior. They 
all have the same high sense of business pro- 
priety, but the merchants of the Treaty Ports 
have been more influenced by foreign business 
methods. Apart from business, there is, unfor- 
tunately, very little contact between the for- 
eigner and the Chinese merchant. Though the 
Chinese merchant gives a dinner to which he 
invites his foreign friends, the foreigner does 
not return the compliment by inviting Chinese 
merchants to his house. For my part, however, 
if I accepted the hospitality of a Chinese mer- 
chant, I always returned it by inviting him to 

[112] 


CHINESE BUSINESS METHODS 


my house. I called upon him to ask him to 
come. In many cases I was introduced to his 
family, and we became friends. 

It has long been customary not to admit any 
Chinese to membership in foreign clubs in 
China. As I have been in other Asiatic coun- 
tries where the native merchant and banker is 
admitted to all clubs, I never have been able to 
see why a respectable Chinese merchant, banker, 
doctor, or lawyer should not join a foreign club, 
as do men of other nationalities living in his 
country. I have been freely and gladly admit- 
ted to Chinese clubs. So when my Chinese 
friends visit America, I always make it a point 
to send them cards to all my clubs, where they 
are cordially received. 

There are, however, certain clubs in China 
that were organized from the beginning to in- 
clude Chinese and foreign members. In these 
they dine together and in general meet on the 
same social footing. But there has always been 
a feeling among the Chinese, particularly in the 
Treaty Ports, that they should be eligible for 
membership in foreign clubs. Their disqualifi- 

[113] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


cation has sometimes caused friction between 
them and the foreigners. If the rule is abol- 
ished, as I feel sure it eventually will be, and 
Chinese gentlemen are admitted to the clubs, I 
doubt whether very many of them will join, as 
the Chinese are not clubmen. 

A Chinese student of my acquaintance left 
his home and spent nine years in England, 
American, Germany, and Austria, educating 
himself in the manufacture of steel. He was 
strong and healthy, a diligent student with a 
quick mind, and was graduated with high hon- 
ors from the universities he attended. In addi- 
tion, he was extremely practical.. On his return, 
he married a young girl of good Chinese family. 
She was well educated and much interested in 
her husband’s career asa steel manufacturer. He 
secured a managing position in a Chinese steel 
plant and faithfully tried to use the knowledge 
and experience he had gained. One of the first 
things he tried to introduce was a system of 
checking the workmen’s time, as he had discov- 
ered that a good many of them were getting into 
the plant at any hour in the morning they pleased, 

[114] 


CHINESE BUSINESS METHODS 


thus disorganizing the work. The scheme he 
proposed was to have a numbered brass check 
for each workman, the check to be handed to 
the man in the morning as he went into the 
plant and returned by him at night for credit 
when his day’s work was finished. To carry 
this plan into effect necessitated erecting at the 
entrance to the plant a brick building with a 
long window through which the time clerks 
could pass out and collect the brass checks. The 
estimated cost of this building was about one 
thousand dollars. 

He prepared a full description of his plan and 
gave it, together with a sample check and the 
drawings of the proposed building, to his supe- 
rior officer. In asking to be allowed to carry out 
his idea, he reported that the plant was losing 
money by the dilatory way in which the em- 
ployeés came to work. The superintendent 
approved the plan, but said that the whole 
matter would have to be referred to the man- 
aging director of the steel plant, who lived in 
Peking, twelve hundred miles away. The young 
man went on with his work and succeeded in 

[115] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


turning out a very good steel rail, which was 
used on the government railroads. About a year 
after the plans for the brick building had been 
submitted, they were returned to the superin- 
tendent “not approved.” The expenditure of 
one thousand dollars to put up a building with- 
out which the plant had been working all right 
was thought to be unnecessary. 

After three and a half years, my friend be- 
came discouraged. He felt that his broad experi- 
ence was of little value to the plant, as any 
innovations he suggested were ignored. He fi- 
nally resigned and set up a business of his own, 
manufacturing pontoons and steam launches, in 
which venture he was very successful. 

Only a few years ago a young Chinese came 
to America to be educated with a view to mak- 
ing a career of railroading. He was graduated 
with honors from one of our universities. Then 
he worked for one of the great railway systems 
of America and acquainted himself with the 
conditions under which the railroads were oper- 
ated. Before returning to China, he went 
through its workshops and traveled over the 

[116 ] 


CHINESE BUSINESS METHODS 


line. Being a good observer, he absorbed a 
great deal of railway knowledge and noted, 
among other things, the system of accounting 
used by that railroad. 

One of the first things this young man did on 
his return was to go to the Board of Communi- 
cations and explain the necessity of having the 
same system of accounting for all the railroads 
in the country. At that time, the foreign pow- 
ers who had financed railroads in China had 
their own accountants in charge. As each na- 
tion had a different system of accounting, con- 
fusion resulted, and it was difficult for the 
Chinese themselves to know the financial con- 
dition of their railroads. 

The Minister of Communications gave this 
young man a free hand to standardize the sys- 
tems of accounting of the several railroads. 
He came over to America to engage an expert 
accountant, who went to China and quietly ex- 
plained to those in charge of the various rail- 
roads the advantages of a standardized system 
of accounting. They accepted the suggestion, 
and the interested parties are quite satisfied with 

[117] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


the new system. When the Board of Com- 
munications, or the Minister of Finance, or the 
Chinese bankers, foreign bankers, or merchants 
read over the balance sheet of the railroads, 
they can understand them. 

When railroads were first introduced in 
China, many years ago, they were very unpop- 
ular. The first one was built from Shanghai 
along the banks of the Hwang Ho River to 
Woosung, a distance of about twelve miles, to 
show the Chinese what a railroad was like. 
After it was put into operation, the Chinese tore 
it up and threw it into the river. Later on, it 
was proposed to have a railroad between Tien- 
tsin and Chinwangtao, a distance of about one 
hundred and fifty miles. The Empress of China 
objected to the building of this railroad and pro- 
hibited the importation of locomotives. The 
roadbed was laid, however. Locomotives were 
imported in parts and assembled in China. The 
railroad was finally ready for use, and when 
the Chinese saw what a good method of trans- 
portation it was, they thought better of rail- 
roads. 

[ 118 ] 


CHINESE BUSINESS METHODS 


No one will gainsay that railroads in China 
are a paying proposition. They pay well. I 
have in mind a railroad twelve hundred miles 
long, twenty-five per cent. of the profits on 
which, taken over a period of twenty years, 
have built an additional railroad about five hun- 
dred miles in length. The original property is 
still productive. The seven thousand miles of 
railroad which have been built by foreign money 
is only a beginning. There are still plenty of 
places where railroads could be built with great 
profit to those who subsidize them. China 
could use her water power to advantage in run- 
ning railroads. 

One reason for China’s lack of railroads is 
that the investments in the existing ones are 
held by the foreigners who built them. As the 
Chinese succeed in getting absolute control of 
these railroads, which they are constantly trying 
to do, the profits are used largely for political 
purposes, so that no new capital is released to 
build other railroads. 

Without railway transportation, farmers in 
the interior of the country are at a great disad- 

[119] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


vantage in marketing their produce. The value 
of their land is consequently low. One hundred 
thousand miles of railroads and as many miles 
of highway would make China an entirely dif- 
ferent country. In the sections through which 
the railroads now run the people are better in- 
formed as to what is going on. This is of great 
assistance to the central government. I often 
think how wonderful it would be if the Chinese 
government would say to half a dozen com- 
petent railwaymen: “Here is a country through 
which we want you to build a railroad, fifteen 
hundred miles in length. Here is the franchise. 
It is drawn so that it will be possible for you to 
finance the railroad. The necessary bonds are 
guaranteed by the Chinese government, which 
has a lien on the railroad and its property and a 
first call on its receipts. This franchise covers 
a period of thirty years, and at the end of that 
time is renewable for another thirty years. The 
railroad must be economically built and eco- 
nomically run.” 

On these terms Chinese railroad men could 
build a railroad and make it pay. As I see it, 

[ 120 ] 


CHINESE BUSINESS METHODS 


they are often handicapped by having to work 
under officials who do not understand railroad 
building or financing. The railway men of 
China see the advantage of systematizing the 
railroads. They now have a uniform type of 
locomotive throughout the country with a stand- 
ard coupler. They are also working to stand- 
ardize the equipment and the building of new 
lines. It would be an easy matter to introduce 
into China a system of trust equipment agree- 
ments, which would enable the Chinese to finance 
their rolling stock and would be a great step 
forward. The labor cost of building a railroad 
is about sixty per cent. of the total cost. It is 
obvious, then, that the building of new ones 
would provide much-needed employment for a 
great many Chinese. 

In another connection, I have mentioned 
Chungking, which is the treaty port of Szech- 
wan Province and which is located about two 
thousand miles up the Yangtse River. The river 
is navigable from Shanghai to Chungking. The 
Chinese government has given a franchise for 
a railroad from Hankow to Chungking. The 

AL 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


survey has been made, but the railroad has not 
yet been built. When it is completed, it will 
open up a large part of China. Szechwan 
Province has a population of seventy-one million 
people who need communication with other 
parts of China not only by railroad but by high- 
ways. China needs more transportation facili- 
ties everywhere, although during the past few 
years the number of highways has been in- 
creased. In many parts of the country motor 
buses, motor cars, and motor trucks are now 
being operated by the Chinese with great suc- 
cess. Building roads not only promotes com- 
munication and gives employment to a large 
number of people, but it also increases the value 
of the land through which the highways run, 
because the farmers can get their produce to 
market at a more reasonable price. 
The Shansi banker has long been known 
throughout China as an expert in transferring 
money by produce. One finds him in all parts 
of the country. He will transact your business 
in any part of China for a small fee and with 
perfect safety. He ships produce to a town 
[ 122 ] 


CHINESE BUSINESS METHODS 


where there is a market for it and deposits the 
money in that place. When someone comes 
along who has bought merchandise and wants 
to pay for it, the Shansi banker has a balance 
to his credit, enabling him to pay cash. 

Chinese bankers, except those in the Treaty 
Ports, do not use checks in the way that we use 
them in America. They issue what they call a 
native order, which is payable to bearer with 
three days grace. The use of checks is increas- 
ing, however. A Chinese merchant deposits his 
money in the bank daily. When he wishes to 
make a payment, he orders the banker to do so, 
or tells him to make it and charge it to his ac- 
count. Strange to say, mistakes seldom occur 
in these accounts. But the Chinese do not use 
banks to the same extent that we do in America. 
Their trade is more restricted on this account. 
If the Chinese had a bank in each town and paid 
their debts by check, checks would soon be used 
as currency. Chinese banks seldom fail, though 
they often get into very bad straits. The pen- 
alty for bank failure is very severe. 

The Chinese, in general, hoard their savings 

[ 123] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


in both gold and silver. If they could be per- 
suaded to deposit in banks, it would increase 
the circulation enormously. I have often spoken 
to them about this. They seem to think that if 
the money were recorded by being put into a 
bank, the government would tax it. Conse- 
quently, the Chinese never parade their wealth. 
They hide it to keep from paying taxes. 

The number of English-speaking Chinese one 
meets who have read or are reading the United 
States Federal Reserve Banking Act is remark- 
able. On one occasion I was talking to a Chi- 
nese banker about this law; in reply to my 
question as to what he thought of it, he said 
that he would like to see it adopted in China. 
With some minor changes, this could be done 
with great advantage to that country, since it 
decreases the need for money. He told me that 
in his town the bank would pay a farmer for 
the produce which the produce merchant had 
bought, and later in the day the farmer often 
deposited the very same money back in the bank. 

Once our dealer in that town told me that 
he was badly in need of a supply of cigarettes, 

[ 124 ] 


CHINESE BUSINESS METHODS 


which we had on hand, but that he had no 
money with which to pay for them. When I 
asked him why, he stated that the government 
had imposed a stamp tax on deeds to real estate 
and thus had taken all the dollars out of town 
to the local seat of government. I made an in- 
vestigation and found the town to be without 
currency. I gave the dealer sufficient credit to 
buy the cigarettes that he needed. I reported 
all of this to my banker friend, who told me that 
it was perfectly true, that he had to go to the 
expense of first shipping the money to the seat 
of government and then in turn send it back 
to his town, and that the cost of this was ten 
dollars for each thousand so shipped, which was 
prohibitive. 

China is educating in western countries a 
good many young bankers, and she has able men 
at home who thoroughly understand modern fi- 
nance. Some day I expect to see China establish 
a central bank, which will greatly facilitate trade 
throughout the country and prevent business 
transactions such as I have mentioned above. 

In 1919, in order to promote American trade 

[ 125] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


in China, the United States Minister there suc- 
ceeded in inducing the Chinese Government to 
authorize the establishment of a bank chartered 
under Chinese law, in which Chinese and Ameri- 
can capital was to be invested. When the man- 
date authorizing the establishment of this bank 
was published, American capitalists, chiefly in 
Boston, became interested in the project. Be- 
cause of my knowledge of Chinese trade, com- 
mercial usage, and Chinese banking, I was asked 
to organize this bank. I received a telegram 
in London asking me to go out to China at once 
as its vice-president. I was given a leave of 
absence from the British-American Tobacco 
Company, Ltd., and arrived in Peking early in 
January, 1920. 

The capital of this bank was five million dol- 
lars, gold standard. A Chinese was appointed 
president. Most of the staff are also Chinese. 
The head office is located in Peking, with 
branches in Tientsin, Shanghai, Tsinan, Han- 
kow, Chentow, and Harbin. Immediately upon 
my arrival, the necessary premises for these 
were obtained in the several towns. The forms 

[ 126 ] 


CHINESE BUSINESS METHODS 


and methods of accounting used were worked 
out on American lines by a qualified accountant. 
I spent the years 1920 to 1923 in developing this 
bank. I then resigned, confidently looking for- 
ward to a successful career for it. It is still in 
existence and has served a useful purpose in 
facilitating trade between the two countries, 
although China has been in a chaotic condition 
a large part of the time since its establishment. 
Through this bank American merchants are 
enabled to go directly to any part of China with 
their merchandise. Although the bank’s busi- 
ness is chiefly in China, it has connections 
throughout the world. 

The Chinese American Bank of Commerce, 
as this bank is called, has a note issue. The 
notes, or bills, to use an American term, are 
printed in the United States. When one deposits 
a silver dollar with the bank, a dollar bill or 
note is issued for that silver dollar. The holder 
of the note is then able to go to the bank at any 
time and receive his silver dollar, if he wishes 
to do so. This is the plan on which American 
silver certificate notes are issued, which read: 

[127] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


“Good for one silver dollar on demand when 
presented at the Treasury of the United States.” 
The Chinese public has developed confidence in 
the note issue of the Chinese American Bank 
of Commerce. 

Another function of this bank is to familiar- 
ize the Chinese with the banking system of the 
United States of America. The forms of the 
bank are written in English on one side and in 
Chinese on the other, which makes with regard 
to any transaction a complete account in both 
languages. 

In years gone by the Chinese had a distinct 
aversion to the use of any kind of machinery. 
They reasoned that if a machine doing the work 
of one or more men were brought into the coun- 
try, it would prevent the Chinese from earning 
a living. Prior to the Revolution in China, the 
Empress issued mandates against the use of 
machinery. Take the case of cotton. The Chi- 
nese contended that the old hand processes gave 
work to more people, a thing to be considered in 
a country with so vast a population. The first 
step was to take a long piece of wood, with a 

[ 128 ] 


THE CHINESE AMERICAN BANK K OF COMMERCE 


IS Juty is20 


ERICA DANENOTE COMPANY. 


NiO}D bsO F iH EC EH ILN ES i sAuMor ReiGrAgN 
BANK OF COMMERCE 


CHINESE BUSINESS METHODS 


string fastened on one side of it, something like 
an archer’s bow. They laid this on the cotton 
and pulled the string, which snapped back and 
made the cotton fluffy. Then it was carded into 
small rolls and spun into yarn, which was woven 
into cloth on a hand loom, as was done in the 
old days in America. 

I recall a visit to a Chinese town of about 
eight hundred thousand population, which prided 
itself on the upkeep of its streets, watering 
them daily to prevent dust. For this pur- 
pose the city provided tubs with sturdy bails. 
A tub contained about twenty gallons of water 
and was carried out into the street by two labor- 
ers, both of whom had a gourd of about a quart 
capacity. The handles of these gourds were 
about five feet long. The workmen were very 
adept at filling these dippers and throwing the 
water so as to sprinkle the entire street near 
them. Crew followed crew until the whole 
street was wet. 

I thought of the proverbial watering cart 
here in America, which held about five thousand 
gallons of water, pulled by two horses, or mules, 

[129 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


with a man to drive. I had the audacity to tell — 
one of the municipal officials that if he bought 
ten of these American carts he could have the 
entire street system sprinkled twice a day, em- 
ploying but one man to a cart, thereby saving 
the city a lotof money. He told me very simply 
that he had read about these carts, but that the 
Chinese could not adopt such a system success- 
fully. He said that if he introduced the water 
carts into his city as I had suggested, it would 
throw out of employment seven thousand labor- 
ers now engaged in that work. This would em- 
barrass the council. 

Today, however, there are many cotton mills 
in China owned by the natives, and there is little 
propaganda against the use of machinery, be- 
cause the Chinese have come to see the great 
advantages of its use. The Chinese have learned, 
for example, to operate concrete mixers and in- 
sist on having them when constructing roads, 
buildings, or anything that requires the use of 
concrete. 


[ 130 ] 


CHAP THROVI 
CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


HE FIRST interpreter J had in China was 
a on the recommendation of some 
English-speaking Chinese. He was an ambi- 
tious young man about twenty-one years of 
age, the son of a Chinese preacher. He spoke 
good English and was of fine address and 
pleasing personality. He understood also how 
to approach a Chinese merchant and gentleman. 
In 1905 the boy and I went by boat to Nanking, 
two hundred miles from Shanghai. This was 
before the Shanghai and Nanking railroad was 
built. After being in Nanking for several days, 
we visited the Chinese University. My young 
interpreter and friend told me about the policies 
governing the institution. Of special interest 
were the small rooms to which the students re- 
tired to prepare for the examinations. Each 
student was thus provided with a place favora- 
ble to thought and application. 

In former days a Chinese student was often 
fifty or fifty-five years old before he was 
[131 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


graduated. Then he was eligible for a govern- 
ment position, such as sub-prefect or prefect, 
from which he could work his way up to a 
higher office. This seemed a long preparation 
for the student to make, particularly as it took 
the best years of his life. Indeed, when he had 
passed all of his examinations, he was ap- 
proaching his dotage. Gradually a feeling de- 
veloped, especially among the younger Chinese, 
that this system of education should be changed 
so as to make it possible for a person to be 
graduated early in life, as are the students in 
American universities. This change was put 
into effect and has had much to do with other 
changes which have taken place in China of 
recent years. 

I found many different dialects in China, 
although there was only one written language. 
It was told me that a Chinese who knew ten 
thousand characters of the written language 
was considered a very well-educated man. The 
arts and literature of China, with five thousand 
years of civilization behind them, are extremely 
interesting. But I was depressed to think that 

[ 132 ] 


CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


the educational system prevented the ordinary 
man from attaining a knowledge of the cultural 
history of his country. The resulting lack of 
general education was partly responsible for 
the absence of nationalistic feeling under the 
old régime. It was often said that the Chinese 
were not patriotic and that the North and 
South had no interest in each other. The only 
evidence of nationalistic feeling in the early 
days of my residence in China was shown when 
some foreign power obtained a settlement or 
concession which tended to affect the integrity 
of the country. 

In 1915 one heard much throughout China 
about the Great War. At that time a movement 
was started to change the written language by 
reducing the number of characters for ordi- 
nary daily use to about one thousand. This 
movement became very popular and in the end 
brought about mass education. Everywhere 
teachers assembled groups of people about 
blackboards. They gave a three months’ 
course, which enabled the average man to read 
and write sufficiently well to understand the 

[ 133 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


newspapers. In this new language many novels: 
were written, some of which sold into the hun- 
dreds of thousands. The spirit of nationalism, 
which has now come to the surface, was in- 
stilled with the new language. 

The present revolution in China is not a 
revolution in the ordinary sense. Hundreds of 
thousands of Chinese have learned the new 
written language, and a great many of the 
school books employ it. This reform has gone 
so far that it has completely undermined the 
old educational system. This, in turn, has 
weakened the government. It seems to me that 
the power has shifted from the old to the new 
system of education. Millions of Chinese now 
have educational advantages they would not 
have had under the former régime. To-day, 
when talking to the average man or woman in 
China, one is not in so much danger of using 
words that they do not understand. The Chi- 
nese all have the greatest respect for education, 
so they are quite likely to do everything in their 
power to propagate the new language. 

The older written language was entirely de- 

[ 134 ] 


CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


void of slang, which made it, so far as the 
masses were concerned, practically a dead lan- 
guage. The one-thousand-character language 
now in use has enough slang to make it live. 
Many of the hawkers on the street have verses 
which they call at the tops of their lungs, tell- 
ing about their different wares. The increased 
contacts with the outer world have created not 
only Chinese suffragettes, flappers, jazz music, 
but slang also. The modern abbreviated lan- 
guage is very simple, and so practical for every- 
day use that within a few years everybody will 
probably speak it. It will remain alive partly 
by reason of its slang expressions. 

Formerly the Chinese did not travel much 
either in their own country or outside its 
borders. But when China severed diplomatic 
relations with Germany and finally declared 
war, about fifty thousand laborers were sent to 
France. When they returned to their homes, 
they had an entirely new set of ideas about the 
outside world. We may assume that each one 
of these laborers imparted to at least ten of his 
fellow countrymen the impressions of what he 

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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


had seen abroad. Likewise the villager or 
small-town man whose affairs take him to the 
city, comes back home to report to his neigh- 
bors what he has seen and heard in the 
metropolis. 

The rise of nationalistic feeling has affected 
all religious sects in China. The Chinese be- 
lieve in religious freedom and will insist upon 
having it. The Taoist head-priest, who for cen- 
turies has been able to collect great revenue in 
his district for the support of his churches and 
ecclesiastics, must now give way to this feeling - 
of religious independence, as his people no 
longer feel obliged to contribute to organized 
religion as they formerly did. This does not 
mean that the Chinese are not religious; they 
are essentially a righteous people. Their ideas 
of righteousness are derived from the teachings 
of Confucius. Confucianism, as we all know, is 
chiefly a code of morals. The Chinese have ad- 
hered so faithfully to Confucianism that it 
seems to me they have practically shut them- 
selves off from the progress of the outer world. 


[ 136 ] 


CHINESE SOCIAL; CUSTOMS 


They have lived up to it, have been satisfied 
with it, and have desired no change. 

Social changes are taking place in China 
very rapidly. One of the important elements in 
this situation is the necessity that the Chinese 
make these changes themselves. They will have 
to recruit and, in many cases, train men to ad- 
minister the government, beginning with the 
prefecture and going right up to the presi- 
dency. The same is true in the fields of art, 
science, religion, engineering, finance, medi- 
cine, and education. One of the greatest needs 
is for a labor organization. The United States 
and her people have a great opportunity to as- 
sist China in training these leaders. 

The old Chinese officials, few of whom are 
now left, and their followers did not want 
change. They were satisfied with the old forms 
of education and government and opposed any 
new ideas in the same manner that a father 
does the knowledge his son gains in college. 
When the boy comes back and discusses with 
his father what he has learned, the father often 
objects and is not in accord or sympathy with 

[ 137] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


what his son has learned. The revolution in 
China is over-riding the old educational sys- 
tem, all of the old treaties, and is bringing 
about a new order of things, which the rest of 
the world must take into consideration. The 
pressure of young China from within and the 
rest of the world from without has intensified 
the rising spirit of nationalism. One of young 
China’s chief problems in the course of the 
social revolution will be to protect the rights of 
other factions and to prevent the dissemination 
of anti-foreign propaganda. 

It seems very foolish to me for the Chinese 
to inject into their modern movements any 
anti-foreign feeling, as this only tends to with- 
hold the support of the powers from the estab- 
lished government. Although there are many 
points upon which the Chinese and the foreign- 
ers do not agree, it is rather interesting that 
outsiders of all nationalities who live in China 
for any length of time become quite attached to 
the country. In my social contacts, if a differ- 
ence of opinion arose between a Chinese and 
myself, I always tried to get his point of view 

[ 138 ] 


CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


and adapt myself as nearly as possible to it. In 
this way I usually succeeded in establishing 
amicable relations with the people of the com- 
munities where I had taken up residence. In 
other words, I tried to be neighborly. 

The foreigner who settles in a Chinese town 
soon makes a reputation for himself. His char- 
acter and habits become thoroughly known to 
the Chinese. They know the attitudes of a for- 
eigner living among them as well as if they 
took a tape line and measured the man. It is 
soon ascertained whether he is pro- or anti- 
Chinese. His ability as a merchant is sounded. 
They also know whether he lives up to his obli- 
gations and faithfully carries into effect agree- 
ments or business contracts he has made with 
Chinese merchants. It is, therefore, a valuable 
asset to any foreigner taking up residence in 
China to be favorably regarded by the Chinese. 

The people work differently from those of 
the western world. Although their methods 
may seem crude to us, they do bring results. I 
remember once having a piece of machinery, 
weighing about two thousand pounds, which I 

[ 139 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


wanted moved to the fourth floor of a building. 
There was a perfectly good elevator in the 
place, capable of lifting the machinery, which 
lay in front of the elevator. After half an 
hour’s argument, which I did not understand, 
the Chinese workmen doing the moving took 
some rope and tied it around the machinery. 
Through this rope they put some poles, and 
about thirty of the men put their shoulders to 
the ends of the poles and carried the enormous 
weight up the stairway to the fourth floor. 
When they had finally placed the machinery 
where it was to be, I asked the foreman why 
they did not use the elevator. He replied that 
he was afraid the load would break it. So while 
the machinery was put where I wanted it, I 
rather regretted the investment in the elevator. 
However, after some months and some persua- 
sion, I got these workmen to see its utility. 
They then used it continuously, until we had to 
issue an order to prevent workmen from riding 
up and down on it all day long. 

The hope of China lies in education. No 
time should be wasted in arguments and theo- 

[ 140 ] 


CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


ries. The whole gospel should be to educate the 
people in a practical way. I have always 
thought that the educational system of China 
should afford technical training to produce 
skilled labor for manufacturing articles that 
China could sell, not only to her own people, but 
also to the world. This would give many people 
wholesome employment and at the same time 
make them independent. Idleness is about the 
worst thing on earth. From wide observation, 
I am convinced that anyone who is earning his 
own living is happier than one who is not. 

The Chinese are methodical and are as 
skilled with their hands as any people in the 
world. Look at a Chinese rug. It is manu- 
factured by hand, including the dyeing of the 
yarns and the blending of the many colors. A 
Chinese rug is not easy to make, as most of the 
patterns have symbolic meaning. The Chinese 
have made rugs for centuries. The industry 
has been handed down from generation to gen- 
eration. The colors in these rugs seldom fade. 
I think today the Chinese manufacture, per- 
haps, the best rug in the world. The same 

[141] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


could be said of some of their silks. I mention 
this to show that the Chinese could be trained 
to, and do already, make some things better 
than any other people can make them. 

In the past few years the Chinese have made 
great progress in the production of silk. They 
now try to handle only the silk produced by 
healthy worms. I believe they will be able to 
increase their silk production and that, when 
the industry is thoroughly organized, China 
will export almost enough silk to enable her to 
pay her present obligations. That is to say, the 
value of the silk exported each year will pay 
the interest and a portion of the principal of 
the foreign obligations of the government. 

Though China is principally an agricultural 
country, little attention is paid to the quality of 
seed. The Chinese go on using the seed pro- 
duced from year to year, without taking into 
account the possible benefit of using selected or 
northern-grown seed. By bringing this better 
seed as far South as possible, and by a careful 
selection of seed, better results could be ob- 
tained. It might also be possible to produce an 

[ 142 ] 


GHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


hereditary good seed in the South, which would 
yield a richer crop for the same amount of 
labor. The Chinese farmer is a good farmer 
and tills his land well, though his plow is not 
very effective; but when it comes to elementary 
farming, the western world cannot teach him 
very much. 

Missionaries of different nationalities are 
located throughout China and have done con- 
scientious work. They are handicapped, how- 
ever, by having to teach their workers the 
Chinese language before they can go out among 
the people. When a Chinese preacher, for 
instance, takes up training, he starts out far 
ahead of the foreign preacher. The medical 
missionaries have taught the Chinese sanita- 
tion and have established hospitals, which 
greatly benefit the country. Some of the mis- 
sionary schools and universities have turned 
out very able men. But in my opinion the whole 
missionary enterprise in China will have to be 
reorganized to..meet the new thought and 
changed conditions of the country. Although I 
have a great deal of respect for the mission- 

[ 143 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


aries, I think they have erred in some instances, 
where they have taken the Chinese convert, 
educated him, taught him to preach, and then 
have not assigned him a church. If the for- 
eigners undertook to supply enough preachers 
for China, it could not be done except by train- 
ing the Chinese to preach to their own people. 

Only a few years ago a Chinese Young 
Men’s Christian Association was established. 
Those who went there to organize it worked in 
close harmony with the Chinese and trained 
young natives to take up the work. To-day, 
China’s Young Men’s Christian Association is 
largely conducted by the Chinese themselves. 
The Young Women’s Christian Association is 
being directed along similar lines and is in- 
creasing in membership and influence. I have 
noticed on one or two occasions that young 
Chinese men and women educated by mission- 
ary societies insisted upon having a Christian 
ceremony in addition to the regular Chinese 
marriage service. This, no doubt, is very en- 
couraging to the missionaries. 

While there seems to be a disposition on the 

[144] 


CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


part of the Chinese to discourage mission work, 
I doubt the advisability of their doing so, be- 
cause the money goes largely into education. I 
do not believe that the teachings of the mission- 
aries in China are detrimental to the Chinese. 
When the educational system in China is more 
highly organized, no doubt it will be arranged 
for the mission schools to be brought under the 
control of the general school board. The school 
authorities should seriously consider this, be- 
cause the money expended by the missions in 
China would thus be a direct investment in 
Chinese education. American missionaries will 
have to make some such adjustment if their 
work in China is to be continued. 

Sooner or later the question of foreign prop- 
erty in China is going to come up with regard 
to American missions. It has been estimated 
that eight to ten million dollars a year is spent 
in maintaining these missions. Much money 
has been expended in buying land and putting 
up schools, hospitals, and other buildings. This 
money all came from the various churches in 
the United States, a free contribution for the 

[145 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


benefit of foreign missions. Some plan should 
be worked out for making a settlement between 
the different missions and the Chinese when 
this property is finally transferred to Chinese 
control. If the Chinese keep in mind that this 
money was contributed for their benefit, they 
will doubtless make agreements satisfactory to 
the American missionaries. 

I was in China almost continuously from 
1897 to 1923. It was obvious to me that China 
was changing all that time. For that matter, so 
was the whole world, which seemed to be draw- 
ing closer together by reason of railroads, 
motor cars, aeroplanes, radios, telegraph, and 
cable communications. The Commercial Cable 
was laid across the Pacific in 1898 or 1899. 
After that if something happened in New York 
one day, we read about it in China the next. If 
the price of wheat or cotton advanced or de- 
clined in America, it was known in China 
within twenty-four hours. 

During the time I was in China, American 
travel in the Far East increased considerably. 
Our soldiers went to the Philippine Islands and 

[ 146 ] 


CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


came into contact with the Orient. Our news- 
papers, periodicals, and magazines were read 
in China within thirty days after they were 
issued. Chinese students came to America to 
be educated. Students also went to England, 
France, Germany, and Japan. When they re- 
turned, they told their people what they had 
seen and learned. The growing contact with 
the outer world set many Chinese to thinking, 
which has resulted in changing their ideas and 
customs. 

Phonographs and records were imported 
from America. From these the Chinese learned 
our jokes and stories and also our songs. A 
great many standard novels were translated 
into Chinese and read widely. Hundreds of 
thousands of copies of the Bible in translation 
were distributed by the Bible societies. The 
Chinese read in their own tongue the lives of 
our great men, such as George Washington, 
Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Theo- 
dore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson. A great 
many books designed for American children 
were translated into Chinese and read by the 

[ 147] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


native children. American pamphlets on rais- 
ing babies were widely circulated in translation. 

The use of English, I think, is increasing 
more rapidly than that of any other language 
in China. It is now possible to find in every 
town someone who speaks English. These are 
chiefly the students who have gone abroad to 
be educated. Advertisements, magazines, and 
newspapers printed in English filter into the 
country and are read to the people by the reader 
of the town or village. There is a text printed 
in England, Chinese into English, which sells 
at a very reasonable price. A good many Chi- 
nese buy this book and undertake to study Eng- 
lish from it. I remember once walking about 
the streets of a Chinese village, when a young 
Chinese came up to me and greeted me by 
saying, “Yes.” I answered him in English, and 
he retorted: “Dear sir or madam as the case 
may be,” which caused me to smile, for I knew 
he had been studying English out of one of 
these books. We had a conversation in Eng- 
lish, and I could understand a portion of what 
he said. When he used his book, which he had 

[ 148 ] 


ChiNESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


under his coat, he could do very well, trans- 
lating the Chinese into English as he went 
along. The Chinese women are also learning 
English through the Young Women’s Chris- 
tian Association, which is largely in the hands 
of competent native women. 

The dress of the Chinese women is being 
modified in the direction of women’s dress in 
the western world. Chinese girls now wear silk 
stockings, high heels, and short skirts, though 
there has been much opposition to their doing 
so. Their mothers are very much like our 
western mothers, often saying: “When I was 
a girl, my mother would never have let me wear 
a dress like that.” But the Chinese girls con- 
tinue to adopt the western style of dress. 

The Chinese women are indulging more in 
athletics ; they play tennis and basket ball, they 
dance, and they take more outdoor exercise. 
When I first went to China, I seldom saw a 
Chinese lady on the street, and then only when 
she got into and out of her closed carriage. The 
Venetian blinds of her carriage or chair were 
so made that she could look out, but no one 

[149] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


could look in. This custom has gone completely, 
and nowadays one sees Chinese ladies in open 
chairs, carriages, motor cars, and rikishas, 
going about the streets, shopping, and paying 
calls. They also go to the theaters and moving- 
picture shows in the same manner as the 
western women. Some day they will demand 
political recognition, as women in other parts 
of the world have done. I see no objection to 
its being granted. All men derive their ideals 
largely from their mothers, and women ought 
to be permitted to exercise their citizenship 
directly. 

Furthermore, the young Chinese girl now 
selects her own husband, instead of having her 
parents choose him, as was formerly done. 
When a young Chinese woman marries, the 
event is written up in the society news of the 
papers in a western manner. A Chinese wed- 
ding is very spectacular, but in a different way 
from an elaborate European wedding. In 
China the father of the bride and the groom’s 
father stand with the official who performs the | 
ceremony. The bride and groom are both pre- 

[ 150 ] 


CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


sented with a marriage certificate signed by the 
official and by their respective fathers. There 
is a grand master of ceremonies at each wed- 
ding, who, when the marriage certificates are 
duly signed and sealed, asks the bride and 
groom to bow to their ancestors, then to bow 
to the bride’s father and mother, the groom’s 
mother and father, their friends, the distin- 
guished guests, and finally to the grand master 
of ceremonies himself. This last usually oc- 
casions laughter. In some instances, as a joke, 
the bride refuses to bow to the grand master of 
ceremonies. 

At one wedding I witnessed, the bride was 
dressed in a semi-foreign costume, with a bridal 
veil, orange blossoms, and a bouquet. The 
groom was wearing the latest foreign clothes, 
morning fulldress suit, silk hat, and gloves. 
Immediately after the ceremony the bridal 
party had their photographs taken to send to 
their particular friends. However, in the in- 
terior of the country weddings are much the 
same as they formerly were. But times are 
changing fast, even in the more remote parts 

[151] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


of China. The newspapers are an important 
factor making for change. To-day there are 
dailies, some with a circulation of one hundred 
thousand copies or more, which reach all parts 
of the country. 

A prominent Chinese gentleman once asked 
me to lend him a certain sum of money. He 
named the rate of interest he expected to pay, 
but I told him it was too high. Then he asked 
me what security I wanted. I replied that I did 
not want any, that I was lending him the 
money on his character, as he had a splendid 
reputation. The loan was made, but one of my 
friends was very much exercised over the 
transaction, maintaining that the note would 
not be paid when due. I told him that perhaps 
he was correct, but that I had a perfect right to 
buy my own experience; if the note was not 
paid, I would simply charge off the amount to 
my pet theories. As it happened, I was reim- 
bursed on the specified day. 

On another occasion a high official called me 
into counsel about a disagreement he had had 
with a foreigner whom he had engaged to dig 

[152 ] 


CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


a well for a cértain sum. The man dug the re- 
quired number of feet and did not strike water, 
but he demanded the contract price for his 
work. The official told him that, as he had not 
struck water, he should continue digging until 
he did. The man objected, and the official 
wanted me to advise him what to do. I told him 
he should engage a lawyer. To this he replied 
that we foreigners were peculiar people, always 
engaging a lawyer, whereas the Chinese did 
not resort to this method of settling disputes 
unless they had a bad case. Feeling that he had 
a good case, he did not want to employ a law- 
yer. After leaving this gentleman, I called on 
the contractor and told him the following story. 
A counselor at law and I were once talking 
about a man whom we both knew, who had not 
conducted himself very honorably and so did 
not have a good reputation in the community 
where he lived. Whereupon the counselor 
quoted a proverb: “There are three things a 
gentleman should never do; wear a ring, eat 
green apples, or dig a well.” His interpreta- 
tion of the proverb was this. If a man wears a 
[ 153 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


ring, he may be considered foppish; if he eats’ 


green apples, they may make him ill; and if he 
digs a well, it may cave in on him. That is to 
say, a man’s deeds have consequences. By the 
use of this story, I persuaded the contractor to 
go on digging the well until he struck water. 
After a few days he was successful and re- 
ported to the Chinese official, who was greatly 
pleased. The latter not only paid the contract 
price for the required number of feet, but re- 
compensed the contractor for the additional 
digging. The two men thus established confi- 
dence in each other, and the foreigner received 
contracts for drilling other wells. 

China is overrun with beggars, who are sys- 
tematically organized. They are persistent when 
making an appeal. If you do not give them a 
copper, your steps are dogged, and very soon 
other beggars join the little procession. On the 
other hand, if you throw them a coin, word is 
passed along, and every beggar you meet insists 
on being given something. It is not that one 
minds giving, but it is very annoying to have 
the beggars run after you and not be able to get 

[ 154 ] 


: 


CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


rid of them without making them angry. Some- 
times they will pursue a man even after he has 
given alms. 

I was sufficiently interested in these mendi- 
cants to inquire about their organization in the 
part of China where I was. I discovered the 
existence of a Beggars’ Guild to which one 
might pay a certain sum of money a month. 
Persons making such contributions were no 
longer bothered by the beggars. I made it a 
point to become acquainted with the head of this 
Guild and in time had many interesting chats 
with him regarding his life and work. His resi- 
dence was a very orderly place. In the court- 
yard a table was set, with food on it both night 
and day. When the beggars came in, they 
turned over their collections for the day, and 
then sat down at the table to a meal consisting 
of rice, fish, pork, and vegetables. The director 
of the Guild assigned districts to the beggars 
and could tell within a few cents how much each 
would collect during a particular day or night. 
He dressed them for their part in very ragged, 
shabby clothes. Often he placed a man with a 

[155] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


loathsome disease at a busy corner, hoping thus 
to get more contributions from the public. 

Once when conditions were very bad in an 
adjoining province, a great many impoverished 
people came into the district of the Beggars’ 
Guild to seek aid. The old gentleman became 
very indignant, went to the Chief of Police, and 
told the officer that if he did not prevent these 
beggars from coming in from the outside a 
strike of the local order would be called. In that 
event, the Police Department would have to sup- 
port all of the beggars that the Guild was then 
providing for, an embarrassing prospect. I 
was much amused at the idea of a beggar’s 
strike. But my friend’s indignation arose to 
such a point that he took all of the beggars off 
the street and let them appeal to the police for 
food. At this, the police took steps to prevent 
paupers coming in from the outside, and the 
strike was called off. 

The head of the Beggars’ Guild was greatly 
pleased with his position and sincerely believed 
that he was doing an important social service 
for the district in which he lived. He insisted 

[ 156 ] 


4 


; 


CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


that he managed the beggars much better than 
the police could have done. The police certainly 
respected him, and many of the local merchants 
made a monthly contribution to his work, in 
return for which the beggars did not stop to 
solicit in front of their places of business. 

In traveling through the interior of China it 
is just as necessary to observe the rules of the 
road as it would be in New York or London. 
One must give one half of the road and speak 
to the persons one meets. The roads are very 
narrow and are usually surfaced with small 
stones, which become slippery when it rains. 
Asking directions along the road is just as un- 
satisfactory in China as it is in any other part 
of the world. The answers to my questions 
were usually so involved that a half-hour after 
they had been received, I had forgotten them, 
which necessitated stopping again to ask the 
way. If one is going up hill, the Chinese always 
double the mileage in response to the question, 
how far? If one is going down hill, they tell the 
actual number of miles to be traveled. 

When arriving in a strange town or village 

[ 157] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


the politic thing to do is to call upon the ranking 
Chinese official. I recall a visit to one village 
far in the interior to which we came about four 
o’clock in the afternoon. After locating an inn, 
I called upon the chief magistrate and told him 
that as I was spending the night in his village, I 
wished to pay my respects. He received me 
very pleasantly. Soon after I went back to the 
inn he returned my call, bringing me four chick- 
ens, a basket of eggs, and three dollars. He 
apologized for not having anything to give to a 
gentleman in my station in life. In accordance 
with Chinese etiquette, there was nothing for 
me to do but to accept these presents. In ex- 
change I gave him an alarm clock, which pleased 
him very much. On a later trip I called on him 
again and asked him about his court. He had 
been magistrate in the town over thirty years 
and had never had a case in court. This was a 
great surprise to me and convinced me that the 
Chinese are not a litigious people. 

Chinese magistrates are not elected, but are 
appointed by the people in their districts. The 
qualifications are that a man be straightforward, 

[ 158 ] 


CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


upright, well known, and eager to dispense jus- 
tice. Any questions of difference that the inter- 
ested parties cannot settle are taken to the 
magistrate, but usually disputes are settled out- 
side of court. 

I once had an interesting experience trying 
to buy some chickens in a village in the interior. 
There were plenty of them running around, but 
no one seemed to own them. We offered a fair 
price, but could buy no chickens. We had a 
Chinese hostler with us who volunteered to get 
us some chickens without any trouble. He sim- 
ply went out into the street, caught four or five, 
and brought them into the inn. No sooner had 
this happened, than a man came up who said 
they were his chickens, and we paid him what 
he asked. It seems that the chickens were 
owned by the community. The man who came 
to collect for them was the head of the village. 
He asked us if we wanted anything else. We 
engaged a few eggs, which he brought us almost 
immediately. Apparently he told the village 
that we wanted eggs, for early next morning 
there were at least one hundred people standing 

[ 159] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


in front of the inn with baskets of eggs for us 
to buy. 

The Chinese often think that foreigners are 
foolish. Once two of us were making a journey 
through a sparsely populated part of the coun- 
try and had hired sedan chairs, each carried by 
four Chinese. The motion of the chairs be- 
coming monotonous, we decided one afternoon 
that we would walk for a while and told our 
chair bearers to follow us. Before very long 
we could hear them talking about us, saying 
that we were strange creatures to engage chairs 
with four men each to carry us through the 
country, and then have no better sense than to 
walk. With positions reversed, the Chinese 
chair bearer would have ridden the entire dis- 
tance. After listening to them for some time, 
we explained that we walked because we were 
tired of sitting down and because we needed the 
exercise. | 

We often traveled in two-wheeled carts drawn 
by three or four mules. We had cotton canvas 
covers put on the tops of these carts with cigar- 
ette advertisements on them. Frequently we 

[ 160 ] 


QIN WES INO AID) Wy iat (CGA IR 1s, IPI 18S 


CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


gave these covers to the owners of the carts, who 
cherished them. Riding in a two-wheeled Chi- 
nese cart day after day is hard work. The rough 
and narrow roads are extremely bumpy. Once 
I put my pedometer on a friend, who insisted on 
riding in one of these carts while I walked. 
When we arrived at our destination that even- 
ing, the pedometer registered one hundred and 
sixty-one thousand jolts for the day’s journey. 
These wanderings would have seemed more 
monotonous had we not always managed to find 
some humor to relieve the situation. At night, 
it was usually “early to bed,” as we had to con- 
tinue our journey early the next morning. 

We were once asked to join the anti-vandal- 
ism society in China. In the employ of the 
company was a young man who was a very 
enterprising advertiser. He was working in a 
part of the country through which a railroad 
had just been built and was tempted to put his 
cigarette posters on some of the railway stations 
and water tanks, which were indeed good dis- 
play places. No sooner had he done this than 
the railway people made violent protest, and we 

[ 161 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


were asked by our consul to explain why these 
posters had been put up on Chinese Government 
Railway property. We told him that his was 
the first information that we had had on the 
subject, but that the matter would be adjusted 
at once. We explained to the railway officials 
that the young man who had put up the posters 
was inexperienced and that he wished to apolo- 
gize for his mistake. We called in the young 
man and went with him to the railway stations 
and water tanks, where he took down the offend- 
ing posters. Moreover, we had all the tanks 
repainted. The railway officials were so thor- 
oughly satisfied that they gave us a place 
alongside the stations, where we could put our 
advertisements free of charge. 

The world over, civility and cooperation are 
better assets than an attitude of complaining 
about conditions over which we have no control. 
To accept things graciously is a safer course to 
adopt. If we had caused trouble in any part 
of the world it would have been difficult for us 
to make satisfactory explanation of our position. 

During the winter in North China we often 

[ 162] 


CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


wore Chinese clothes, because they were warmer 
than ours. The inns were not heated, but 
we carried oil stoves with us and were very 
comfortable. We often arrived in a town ex- 
pecting letters waiting for us, only to learn at 
the post office that none had arrived. If they did 
not come until after we had gone, they were for- 
warded to us by special messenger provided by 
the Chinese postal authorities. A postmaster 
assumes that his duty is to deliver letters even 
if the party to whom they are addressed has left 
town. I don’t think I ever missed a letter in 
China. 

In 1911 the Hwai River overflowed its banks, 
flooding a large area of country. Famine fol- 
lowed the flood. A relief committee was or- 
ganized with Bishop Graves of the Episcopal 
Church in Shanghai as chairman, and Dr. Wu 
Ting Fang as vice-chairman. They with eleven 
foreigners and eleven native-born gentlemen 
constituted the Central Chinese Famine Relief 
Committee of which I was a member. This 
committee by its appeals collected about two 
million dollars, a large portion of which came 

[ 163 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 1 


from the United States of America, for the 
relief work. The group worked in perfect har- 
mony, but I noticed that the chair was taken 
alternately by Bishop Graves and Dr. Wu Ting 
Fang. At one meeting Bishop Graves was in the 
chair, and Dr. Wu Ting Fang was not present. 
At the next conference Bishop Graves was ab- 
sent, and Dr. Wu Ting Fang presided. The 
missionaries in the famine district volunteered 
their services and were of great assistance to us. 

But we found it difficult to get the Chinese 
people, who were starving or merely existing 
on green leaves and bark from the trees, to 
accept the relief that the committee was pre- 
pared to give. In talking with some of these 
stricken people, I learned that their pride was 
the obstacle in the way of their applying for 
relief. They said that they had been prosperous 
farmers and were not beggars. I saw men, 
women, and children sit down in the mud and 
water and become so discouraged that they died. 
We passed the word that we did not propose to 
give any free relief, but that we would pay them 
for their services if they would dig ditches to 

[ 164 ] 


CHINESE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


drain the land. They accepted this offer. In 
order to determine how badly off they were, we 
proposed a very low wage. If many people came 
to work, it was proof positive that they were 
in real distress, and we paid them double and 
quadruple the wages offered. These workers 
were organized into units of twelve. Ten men, 
each balancing a bamboo pole with a basket on 
either end of it, went in and out of the trenches, 
where the baskets were filled with earth by the 
other two. A man standing up on the bank 
directed the dumping of this soil. 

The Chinese were much pleased with our sys- 
tem and stated frankly that they had much 
rather to be paid for their labor than to receive 
free aid. We had this work so thoroughly or- 
ganized that at one time we were feeding daily 
five hundred and twenty thousand people who 
dug the ditches which drained the land and 
enabled the farmer to plant his autumn crops. 
In handling the food problem we assumed that 
these people would like to have rice, so we ship- 
ped a million pounds of it into the famine area 
together with two million pounds of beans and 

[165 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


bean meal. These were boiled and offered for 
a penny a bowl, about a quarter of a cent in 
American money. But we found that the work- 
ers would not eat rice. When we asked them 
why, they told us that the beans were more fill- 
ing. This meant that we had to ship our rice 
back to Shanghai and other markets to exchange 
it for beans. 

The Central China Famine Relief Committee 
was in existence for two years, at the end of 
which time we made a written report of what 
had been done and accompanied it by a balance 
sheet showing receipts and expenditures down 
to a copper cash—a string coin, a thousand of 
which make a dollar. For this work my col- 
leagues and I were made life members of the 
Chinese Red Cross Society and were each given 
a medal. ; 

Five years later there was another famine in 
China, principally in Shantung Province. The 
International Famine Relief Committee and the 
Chinese Famine Relief Committee were organ- 
ized in the Yellow River.and Grand Canal coun- 
try. The former collected seven million dollars 

[ 166 ] 


SHINE SE SOCIAL CUSTOMS 


in America. The latter, of which I was ap- 
pointed treasurer, collected over a million dol- 
lars. Mr. Liang Shih Yi, who was president of 
the Chinese Famine Relief Committee, gave me 
several Chinese assistants. He agreed with me 
that it was not wise to give free relief as the 
Central China Famine Relief Committee had 
first done. So it was decided to grade a road 
from Chentow in Chilli Province to a point on 
the Tientsin and Pukow Railroad, a hundred 
and twenty miles distant. This work was paid 
for by the money contributed to the Chinese 
Famine Relief Committee. Through the good 
offices of Mr. Duke and his associates one 
hundred thousand Mexican dollars were con- 
tributed. 

For my work as treasurer of the Chinese 
Famine Relief Committee, I received recog- 
nition from the Chinese government, the third 
class order of the Golden Harvest, which was 
the highest decoration it could give to a civilian. 
At my request the government also decorated 
Mrs. Martin Egan, who wrote so ably for the 
Saturday Evening Post. She came out to China 

[ 167 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


for that periodical, and her articles on the fam- 
ine helped to inspire the American people to 
contribute the large sum of money they sent to 
the starving Chinese. 

From time to time America has also sent 
competent engineers to ascertain what could 
be done to prevent floods in China. The reports 
of these experts contain plans for flood control, 
but China has not yet had the necessary capital 
to invest in these projects. With regard to any 
sort of distress in China, it was my policy to 
have our men on the ground report the condi- 
tions immediately and to suggest what was 
needed to ameliorate those conditions. This first 
hand information was freely given to the press 
and to any interested parties. 


[ 168 ] 


CHAPTER VII 
SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


EGARDLEsS of climate and tropical diseases, 

I never thought of refusing to go any- 
where my company sent me. I was carried 
along by wanderlust and a desire to succeed in 
establishing new markets for American ciga- 
rettes. Many of my experiences in China were 
shared by a Chinese boy whom I called Jim. 
He was a splendid character and was possessed 
of much common sense. He was the only native 
servant of my acquaintance with whom the Chi- 
nese gentry and merchants would deign to eat, 
thus putting themselves on a plane of social 
equality with him. His English was good. 
Moreover, he could speak many of the Chinese 
dialects. He was willing to go anywhere I 
went, although in some instances this involved 
considerable risk, because I was a foreigner. 
But I had the utmost faith in Jim. When he 
got into a tight place, he was extremely clever 
in devising ways and means of getting out. His 
theory seemed to be that a general whose re- 

[ 169] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


sources cannot bring him safely through a pre- 
dicament is a very poor strategist indeed. 

Once during the Russo-Japanese War Jim 
and I went to Manchuria to see a Chinese mer- 
chant who had buried under his house thirty 
thousand dollars, which was due our company 
for cigarettes he had sold. This man had writ- 
ten me that he was very anxious to send the 
money to us, but that he had no safe means of 
doing so. He suggested that I had better come 
for it. We arrived in his town one evening 
about six o’clock with our food and bedding and 
about fifteen servants carrying our supplies. 
We found sixty-five thousand Japanese troops 
in the town. We were immediately accosted by 
a Japanese officer, who asked us our business. 
We told him that we had come to call on a Chi- 
nese friend. He informed us that we had no 
right to be there, whereupon I produced our 
Chinese and American passports. 

The merchant whom we had come to see lived 
just outside the town, about four miles from the 
railroad station. We found him about nine 
o’clock that evening, very much disturbed over 

[ 170 ] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


local conditions. He said that on the previous 
day several people had been killed by robbers 
and that we should be very careful and should 
not go outside of the house night or day 
without protection. He hoped that we would 
promptly relieve him of the money, the presence 
of which jeopardized his life. Being only a 
Chinese merchant, he felt quite helpless in the 
face of the war. His story rather alarmed me, 
as I was far from headquarters and had no pro- 
tection whatever but the little money I had in 
my pockets and my passports. Not having had 
anything to eat since early in the morning, I 
told Jim to get us some supper. While we re- 
freshed ourselves at our meal, I did some hard 
thinking, interrupted intermittently by the many 
injunctions of our Chinese friend with regard 
to the risk of undertaking to carry away with us 
the thirty thousand dollars. Bear in mind that 
these were silver dollars weighing practically an 
ounce apiece. They had been packed in three 
cases, quite a bulky load to move to a place of 
safety one hundred and twenty miles away. 
But I realized that the money was of no value 
[171] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


to us where it was and that we could not repay 
the loyalty of this honest merchant by subjecting 
him to danger in protecting it. So I determined 
to remove it at any cost. After supper I sum- 
moned Jim and the servant in the house of our 
Chinese friend, who had assisted in preparing 
our supper, and sent them out to bring me the 
worst robber that they could find. Jim seemed 
hesitant and suggested that we had best wait 
until the next morning, when he would have a 
better opportunity of finding the man I wanted. 
But I insisted on their going immediately. In 
about an hour they brought in a Chinese clad 
in a leopard skin. He was six feet tall and was 
about thirty years of age. In reply to my ques- 
tions this giant admitted that he was in good 
standing in the Robbers’ Guild and accepted the 
three months’ position I offered him at a salary 
of six dollars a month. He insisted, however, 
that I show good faith by paying him one 
month’s salary in advance. This I did, and then 
sent him outside to guard the house in which 
we were stopping. He was quite satisfied and 
at intervals during the night yelled out at the 
[172 ] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


top of his voice that he was a robber, guarding 
a friend of his, and that nobody must come near 
him. After hearing a few of his declarations, I 
decided that he was efficient enough, and I 
ordered Jim to place my bedding upon the 
kong. A kong is a Chinese bed built out of 
brick with a flue running under it, in which 
there is a fire during the winter. I went to 
bed at once and slept peacefully all night. 

The next morning we spent walking around 
the district. The streets were crowded with 
carts and people, but our robber guard never let 
us pass out of his sight. I had several talks with 
him during the day, and we became quite 
friendly with each other. That evening I de- 
cided to take him into my confidence. I told 
him about the money and that we wanted him to 
take it down through the country to a place of 
safety, one hundred and twenty miles away. He 
accepted the responsibility without question. 
To save him from having to open one of the 
money chests, I gave him a hundred dollars in 
silver to pay his expenses and authorized him to 
engage a two-wheeled cart drawn by three 

[ 173] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


mules. I also told him that I thought he should 
leave early the next morning. 

About two o’clock that night the money was 
taken from under the house and placed in the 
cart. We put seven or eight bags of beans on 
top of each box to hide the silver. A tarpaulin 
was placed over the chests, as was the custom 
when transporting beans through the country. 
About four o’clock our robber guard bade me 
good-bye and started on his journey. I was 
sure that if Jim and I undertook to convey this 
money through the country it would only be an 
invitation to some one to kill us and confiscate 
the booty, but, on seeing the cart drive away, I 
began to wonder if I should ever see the money 
again. Jim seemed confident that his brigand 
countryman was trustworthy and would go to 
the port with the money, unless he was killed. 
So I was pleased with what I had done and tem- 
porarily dismissed the matter from my mind. 
Jim and I packed up and started for the port 
ourselves. The merchant was greatly relieved 
and asked us to notify him as soon as we should 
arrive safely at our destination. 

[174] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


We were delayed about twelve hours on the 
road, so when we arrived at the port we found 
that our Chinese guard had preceded us there 
about ten o’clock the night before and had taken 
the money to the bank according to my instruc- 
tions. The bank had refused to accept it, accus- 
ing him of having stolen the money. He was 
very indignant at the charges made against him. 
I soon cleared the whole matter up with the 
bank. The money was accepted and, on count, 
was found to be all there. 

I offered this Chinese guard a bonus of five 
hundred dollars for having brought the money 
safely to the bank. But he refused to take it, 
saying that he was only a servant. However, I 
engaged his services by the year at a salary 
which was then considered very good in that 
part of the world, thirty dollars a month. He 
was quite pleased with the arrangement, by 
which we left him in Manchuria to look after 
any matter in which he could be of use to us. 
As he was a member of the robbers’ guild, the 
organization provided us with a small flag 
which was displayed on the carts and the bridles 

[175] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


of the ponies traveling on our business. Any 
little procession carrying this flag passes on un- 
molested. In the Western world we take out 
fire, life, casualty, and burglary insurance. The 
salary we paid this member of the Robbers’ 
Guild was a similar kind of protection for us 
in China. 

Jim was a great comfort, and I often used to 
think that I could not do without him. He was 
very clever in managing people and affairs. 
Everyone he met liked and respected him. Once 
when we were in a small town, we received sev- 
eral cablegrams which had to be answered 
promptly. The tolls on these replies took all of 
the ready cash we had, which was only about 
two hundred dollars. I told Jim that we could 
not leave the next morning early, as we had ar- 
ranged to do, since we were unknown in the 
town, and I would have to telegraph for more 
money. I was in no particular hurry anyway, 
as we had a long journey ahead of us. I thought 
a few hours extra rest would be very pleasant, 
so I told Jim that I would not telegraph for the 
money until the next morning. | 

[ 176 ] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


But Jim thought the town was a terrible place 
and did not want to stay there a minute longer 
than was necessary. About one o'clock that 
night he came into my room to tell me that we 
were leaving at seven in the morning. To my 
great surprise he had borrowed two hundred 
dollars for us. I asked him who his Chinese 
friend was. He said he had not met him before, 
but that the man was a merchant to whom he 
had explained our predicament. This merchant 
had accepted Jim’s I. O. U. with the under- 
standing that it would be promptly paid through 
a Shanghai bank or the post-office. The next 
morning, before we left, I had the pleasure of 
meeting the man and assured him that he would 
be repaid for his kindness. Through this inci- 
dent we gained his confidence, and he later be- 
came a very loyal supporter of our company. 
For all I know he may still be selling our goods. 

I never tired of talking to Jim. He was 
quick-witted and very intelligent about general 
conditions in the country through which we 
traveled. He looked after the baggage and me 
and paid all our bills. At the end of the month 

[177] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT ’ 


he turned in an account of the money spent. 
During the many years we were together I never 
knew him to make a mistake in these accounts, 
which he kept in Chinese. 

Jim’s little peculiarities amused me. I often 
asked him what we were going to have for 
breakfast, knowing all the time just what our 
supplies contained. He would answer: “Bacon 
and eggs (or ham and eggs), coffee, bread and 
butter, and sardine fish.” Repeatedly I told 
him that I did not want sardine fish for break- 
fast, but that I would like sardines. To this he 
always replied that there were no sardines, only 
sardine fish. He always insisted on carrying an 
umbrella. When he went to look after the bag- 
gage or attend to other business, he handed it to 
me to hold while he was occupied. It seemed to 
me that I carried his umbrella most of the time, 
though I seldom had one myself. 

A friend of mine, who was being married in 
China, asked me if he could have Jim’s services 
on his honeymoon. He and his bride were going 
from Shanghai to Japan and wanted someone to 
look after their baggage. Jim was very much 

[178 ] 


: 
: 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


pleased, was present at the wedding, and took 
complete charge of the traveling arrangements 
of the newly married couple. The following 
morning Jim was preparing my friend’s bath, 
when the gentleman’s wife picked up his soap 
and towel and started off with them to her bath. 
This brought a great protest from Jim, who told 
the bride that she could not use the master’s 
soap. She was very indignant until her husband 
showed her that this was an indication of Jim’s 
loyalty. 

Jim could be trusted with all sorts of com- 
missions. I once asked him to look after a 
friend of mine who came to China with his wife 
and four children. They were so appreciative 
of his aid that, when leaving, they gave him five 
hundred dollars. He lent out the money at a 
good rate of interest. He kept in close touch 
with the family after they returned home. At 
Christmas he always sent them greetings and 
inquiries about their welfare. When the young 
daughter of the family blossomed into woman- 
hood and became engaged to be married, she 
sent Jim an invitation to the wedding. He 

[ 179] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


showed it to me and insisted that he must send 
her a wedding present. He paid fifty dollars 
for the gift and sent it to New York with his 
blessings for the bride. A few days after that 
he came to me, showed me the parcel post receipt 
for the package, handed me the bill for the pres- 
ent, and told me to pay it. He argued that he 
was the company’s agent, and that we should 
certainly send this young girl a wedding present. 
So I paid the bill, but Jim received the beautiful 
note of thanks. 

Jim was a prominent figure in the company. 
One of the vice-presidents in New York, who 
knew him very well, once heard that he was ill. 
He cabled me to ask about Jim’s health and in- 
structed me to increase his salary from twenty- 
five dollars to forty-five a month. I called Jim 
into the office and read him the cablegram. Then 
I handed it to him and told him that his salary 
increase would go into effect at once. He 
thanked me most profusely, looked at the mes- 
sage, handed it back to me and went out, only to 
return about half an hour later to say that he 
would not accept the raise in salary. His ex- 

[ 180 ] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


planation was this: “By and by you will go 
home, and someone else will come to take your 
place. In looking over the payroll, your suc- 
cessor will see, ‘Jim, forty-five dollars a month,’ 
and ask what I do. When told that Jim is the 
boy who travels about the country, he will say 
that there are plenty of Chinese boys who would 
be glad for the work at twenty-five dollars a 
month, and I shall lose my job. So I do not 
want the increase in salary, because a travel boy 
is worth only twenty-five dollars a month.” 

After much persuasion he agreed to let me 
put the extra twenty dollars a month in the 
bank for him. Then I wrote the vice-president 
of the company details of the affair. Jim’s 
action pleased him very much. I was instructed 
to call together the Board of Directors in China 
for the purpose of passing a resolution putting 
Jim on the company’s pay-roll for life at a sal- 
ary of forty-five dollars a month. A few years 
ago he was placed on the retired list. 

Early one morning, when I was stationed in 
the interior, I heard a great argument between 
Jim and the cook. The discussion became so 

[181 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


heated that I called Jim to ask what was the 
matter. He told me that our cook did not under- 
stand his business, that he was giving our men 
too much meat to eat, which was ruining their 
stomachs, and that the quarter of beef and two 
sheep which the cook had ordered were entirely 
too much. Jim was excited and went on to say 
that the men had been brought there to work 
and not eat all day long, and that he had made 
the cook send one of the sheep and a half of the 
quarter of beef back to the butcher. . 

When I undertook to straighten the matter 
out, I found the cook also very indignant. He 
informed me that he was acting in accordance 
with his instructions and that the men were not 
eating too much meat for winter-time. Headded 
that he had ordered extra supplies, because he 
could not get any more for the next four or five 
days over the approaching holiday. His expla- 
nation caused another row with Jim, who was 
angry for not having heard about the holiday. 
But the butcher was finally instructed to bring 
the extra meat back. 

Running across the Gobi Desert through Mon- 

[ 182 ] 


—--. 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


golia from Peking to Urga, a distance of about 
a thousand miles, the Chinese government has a 
telegraph line. Every two hundred miles of this 
distance there are wells, where the camel cara- 
vans or mule and horse carts that cross the 
desert stop overnight for water and supplies. 
There was a British subject named Grant em- 
ployed on this telegraph line. He and his Chi- 
nese assistant had stopped off at a station two 
hundred miles from Kalgan. Then it was re- 
ported in Peking that this Britisher had been 
killed by a Mongolian marauder. The affair 
had been taken up by the Chinese government, 
and the newspapers in Tientsin, where Jim and 
I were staying, had much to say about it. 

One afternoon I received a telegram from 
Peking signed “Li,” asking me if I would send 
someone out to this station. The government 
did not think that Grant had been killed, but 
wanted to find out. I did not know Mr. Li, but 
I telegraphed him at once that I would do what 
I could. I went up to Kalgan, about two hun- 
dred miles from Tientsin, and called on a Chi- 
nese general who had forty-five thousand troops 

[ 183 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


on the Mongolian border. I told him that I 
wanted about two hundred cavalrymen, the 
same number of camels, and a pass through his 
lines to see if I could locate Mr. Grant. 

The Chinese general refused my request, so I 
went directly to Peking. After explaining my 
mission to one of the principal secretaries of the 
government, I received a pass through the Chi- 
nese lines and an order for the cavalry company 
and camels. I then sent out five men, none of 
whom, by the way, had ever seen Grant, to see 
if they could locate him. When they found the 
Mongolian outlaw supposed to have killed him, 
the man said that Mr. Grant was not dead and 
that he could produce him. He brought in a 
Russian who looked something like Grant’s pic- 
tures, but this man did not answer satisfactorily 
the questions put to him. Finally the brigand 
was told that it would be greatly to his advan- 
tage to help us find Mr. Grant. He did. The 
man’s body was dug up and carried back to 
Peking for burial in the British cemetery there. 
For my part in this affair, the government gave 
me my first Chinese decoration, the sixth class 

[ 184 ] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


Order of the Golden Harvest. It paid ten 
thousand dollars to Grant’s mother. As for the 
outlaw, he was killed a few weeks after this by 
some Chinese soldiers. 

Grant must have been a very interesting per- 
son. From what we could learn of his death, it 
was something like this. The bandit, on captur- 
ing him and his assistant, had offered to let 
Grant go back to Peking, as he was a foreigner, 
but said that he intended to kill the assistant, 
who was Chinese. He paced off a distance at 
which his victim was to stand and ordered 
twelve soldiers out to face the man. On seeing 
this, Grant had said to the bandit: “If you are 
going to shoot my friend, you can shoot me, 
too.” At that he took his place by the side of 
his Chinese friend and assistant. The order to 
fire was given, and they were both killed. 

At that time there was a four-hundred-and- 
twenty-camel caravan trading between Kalgan 
and Urga. To give some idea of the size of this 
caravan, I may say that each camel requires a 
man to look after it. There is a saddle or frame 
made to fit each camel’s back, enabling the crea- 

[185 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


ture to carry a load as heavy as three hundred 
and twenty pounds. The cigarettes packed in 
America had to be taken from the cases in 
which they were shipped to China and repacked 
in boxes that would fit the camels’ backs and 
could not weigh more than three hundred and 
twenty pounds. It is a fact that if a load 
heavier than this was put upon a camel, he would 
not move, but simply sit down on his haunches 
and wait for the load to be made lighter. The 
caravan started off at four o’clock in the morn- 
ing, and promptly at four in the afternoon, re- 
gardless of where they were, the camels stopped 
and squatted down for the load to be removed 
for the night. 

This caravan was in charge of three foreign- 
ers who were familiar with the country and 
were very popular with the Mongolians. They 
were strong, healthy men, who were perfectly 
satisfied to live in the desert and be in the saddle 
every day of the year. To amuse themselves, 
they learned the Morse telegraph code. When 
crossing the Gobi Desert they connected their 
instruments to the telegraph wires and sent 

[ 186 ] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


messages back to Kalgan or Peking without the 
assistance of any one. They were fairly good 
operators and had a great deal of fun with 
their accomplishment. 

I remember a winter evening in Kalgan 
where two of these men had just come from a 
trip to Mongolia. They were in the company’s 
quarters, when a newspaper man arrived and 
asked them to put him up for the night. They 
very gladly accommodated him, as they would 
have any stranger who came along. Men whose 
lives are spent in isolated places are pleased to 
have some one to talk to, particularly if he has 
news from the outer world. The two young 
men entertained their guest royally. After sup- 
per one of them invited the correspondent into 
his room on the pretext that it was more com- 
fortable than the living room. A general con- 
versation took place between the two about 
Mongolia, when all of a sudden the telegraph 
instrument on the table began to click. 

Our man excused himself to answer the call. 
He took down a fifty-word message which he 
told his guest had come in from Mongolia. 

[ 187 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


This he read to the newspaper man, who was 
very much amazed at his host’s ability to pick 
up such a telegram. Being always on the look- 
out for news, the correspondent asked permis- 
sion to telegraph this message, picked up from 
Mongolia, to his newspaper. Consent was given, 
and the telegram forwarded. 

The next morning the stranger was told that 
the telegram had been sent from an adjoining 
room and signed by his other host. All had 
a good laugh over the episode. There was 
no harm done, and the story was as good news 
as it is possible to get anywhere. It took men of 
this temperament to distribute cigarettes in the 
far-away places of the earth. The jokes that 
they played were never mean and afforded them 
much entertainment. 

These same men once employed another ruse 
to get them out of a predicament. It was in 
Urga. The local government decided of its own 
accord to put into effect an increased duty on 
cigarettes, which was not in accordance with 
the treaties between the powers and the Chinese 
government. Our men protested against this 

[ 188 ] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


increase, but the local government insisted on it. 
In those days it took a month for a letter to go 
from Urga to Peking, sometimes longer, and 
telegraphing was very expensive, costing at least 
forty cents a word. Nothing daunted, these men 
told the local officials that since they were not 
encouraged or treated properly in Urga, which 
was not a very good market town anyway, they 
had decided to go elsewhere. They said they 
were going to a place on the road between 
Urga and Kalgan, about four hundred miles 
beyond Urga, where they proposed to bore 
wells and get a plentiful supply of water. The 
town they proposed to establish would thus be- 
come the market town of Mongolia. They gave 
evidence of their intention by leaving Urga at 
once. 

Long before their return from Kalgan, which 
is where they went, the local government in 
Urga decided to defer putting into effect the 
increased duty on cigarettes. On their arrival 
our men were notified that there would be no 
necessity of starting the new town. These men 
of ours never lost the confidence of the people 

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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


with whom they were dealing. They were 
trusted and respected by the Mongols and others 
with whom they came in contact. 

The Mongolians are herdsmen, raising great 
quantities of horses, sheep, goats, and cattle. 
At certain seasons of the year they race horses, 
but always on a straight track. China is sup- 
plied with horses by Mongolia. The wool pro- 
duced in that country is exported principally to 
America, as are the hides and skins. From close 
observation I would say that the rest of China 
is encroaching on Mongolia at the rate of about 
four miles a year. One finds Chinese from 
other parts of the country in most sections of 
Mongolia. They come to trade, but very few 
of them settle in the country. Mongols do not 
often intermarry with Chinese. 

There is still in existence between China and 
Russia a trade route which is centuries old. It 
is claimed that Chinese tea shipped over it im- 
proves in quality so that it brings a much better 
price in Russia than tea imported by some other 
route. Previous to the Russian Revolution the 
Russian government maintained a pony express 

[ 190 ] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


across the Gobi Desert by which much of the 
diplomatic correspondence between the Russian 
legation in Peking and the Czarist régime was 
sent. The mail pouches were carried by Rus- 
sian couriers. This kept the correspondence 
always in the hands of the Russian government. 

In crossing the Gobi Desert from China into 
European Russia, one is impressed by the great 
contrast between the East and the West. The 
change is quite gradual, however. Although 
the Russian government was formerly much 
stronger than the Chinese government, it is my 
opinion that Russia will never make a real con- 
quest of Mongolia, because she could not as- 
similate the Chinese. 

From the west gate of the city of Peking 
there is a very good road to a beautiful spot 
about thirty miles away where there are hot 
springs. These springs are surrounded by a 
beautiful forest, which is well kept up. The 
former emperors and empresses visited these 
springs at different seasons of the year for the 
baths. Many beautiful cottages are located near 
these springs, in which the water bubbles up 

[191 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


endlessly. The story goes that one of the 
springs is bottomless. I cannot vouch for this, 
not having had sufficient curiosity to test its 
depth. After the revolution in China foreigners 
were allowed to go to these springs. A good 
hotel which served foreign food was established 
there. The attendants were courteous and 
seemed to anticipate what a foreigner might 
enjoy. Partly for this reason, I always enjoyed 
my visits to these springs. The diplomatic corps 
in Peking frequently visited the place, which be- 
came as popular with the foreigners as it was 
with the Chinese. 

On one of my trips to the springs I became 
acquainted with a Taoist priest, a most amiable 
old gentleman of great poise and dignity. He 
very kindly invited me to visit his temple, which 
is known as Cave Temple. We became such 
friends that he leased me a portion of it, with 
the understanding, of course, that the grounds 
must always remain open except at night. A 
portion of this temple dates back to 400 B. C. 
On one side is an enormous rock that hangs out 
over the tomb of some priest who died ages ago. 

[ 192 ] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


Under this rock is a cave, in which the God- 
images are kept. Immediately in front of the 
cave, a distance of about thirty feet, a stone 
wall had been built, on the other side of which a 
stream of water ran down the mountain side. 

From the temple grounds at night one can 
see the lights of Peking, thirty miles away. I 
could leave Peking at five o’clock in the after- 
noon in a motor car and be at my retreat by 
half past six. I made some improvements in 
the temple, arranging it into four separate 
apartments, the center one of which was a din- 
ing room and kitchen. Surrounding Cave Tem- 
ple was quite a little tract of land. In order to 
grow my own vegetables, I leased a plot of this 
ground from the priest and put it under culti- 
vation. I installed a pump to bring water from 
the river so as to have a plentiful supply for 
irrigation purposes. I spent many happy week- 
ends at this spot. I enjoyed them particularly, 
because I could have both my Chinese and for- 
eign friends with me there. 

My friend, the priest, had an interesting per- 
sonality. In my many conversations with him 

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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


he often spoke of America. He had read of 
George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Grant, 
and Roosevelt, and asked many questions about 
them. He was chiefly concerned to know how 
these great men of America secured the confi- 
dence of their people, which he considered to be 
an imperative duty for the leader or governor 
of any country. He continually emphasized 
his efforts to hold the faith of his little flock. 
He believed in encouraging them. I have heard 
him tell the young men what they might attain 
if they could but command the respect of their 
fellowmen. 

I was greatly interested in this priest’s ideas. 
As I have said, the temple was located on a 
mountain side. On a lower level he had built a 
stone grist mill, which was operated by horse 
and donkey power. The top stone had a long 
piece of wood attached to it at the end of 
which the donkey was hitched. The beast 
walked around the mill, pulling the top stone, 
which ground the grain against the lower one. 
The temple-followers were encouraged by the 
priest to bring their grain here, where it was 

[ 194 ] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


ground for them free of charge. They brought 
wheat, barley, millet, and corn. The priest took 
great pleasure and interest in seeing that his 
people were promptly served. He also advised 
the farmers to grow peanuts and sweet pota- 
toes. As presents to his friends, he always 
gave peanuts and sweet potatoes, both of which 
are nourishing foods and very cheap in China. 

The Chinese consider sweet potatoes a poor 
man’s food. A wealthy person, or one of the 
gentry, will on no account eat them. If he does, 
he commits a social error which affects his 
standing in the community. On many occasions 
I have had an argument with my Chinese cook 
when I asked him to prepare some sweet pota- 
toes for me in the way that I had been used to 
eating them in North Carolina. He would do 
as I bade him, but when the dish came to the 
table it was usually covered with a napkin so 
that nobody could see what was being served. 

The sweet potato roasted is the “hot dog” of 
China. Go anywhere you please, you will find a 
man on the side of the road selling hot sweet 
potatoes, which he has roasted or steamed. His 

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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


clientele, however, is confined to the poorer 
classes. You will see a man pay a copper for a 
sweet potato and sit along the side of the road 
to eat it without any butter or other seasoning. 
His face will show that he is better satisfied 
than if he were in the most famous restaurant 
in the Western world, eating the best dinner 
that could be prepared there. I have often had 
a desire to share this experience with the Chi- 
nese whom I saw sitting by the side of the road 
and have wondered how I could manage it 
without losing face or hurting my social stand- 
ing. ) 
I learned new points on growing sweet pota- 
toes from the Chinese. As a boy in North 
Carolina, I had seen potatoes put in a bed to 
sprout. Then these sprouts were planted in a 
row across the field. Occasionally they were 
cultivated. In due course, we harvested. The 
Chinese pay more attention to the growing 
plant. When sweet potato vines commence to 
spread out, the ends of the vines touching the 
ground put forth new roots. When this occurs, 
the Chinese go into the field and pull up these 
[ 196 ] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


new plants, leaving the main plant intact. 
When I asked a Chinese farmer why he did 
this, he told me that by preserving only the 
parent stem, its roots, which are the potatoes, 
grow larger. I do not know what the Chinese 
would do without their sweet potatoes, because 
millions of people almost live on them. But I do 
know that wherever they are found, they are 
good. 

There are two kinds of peanuts in China, one 
of which is indigenous. I shall not attempt to 
say how many centuries this nut has been 
grown in China. The other is called the San 
Francisco peanut. The story goes that a mis- 
sionary, when coming through San Francisco 
many years ago, had given to him a few sacks 
of American peanuts, which he took out to 
China. On his arrival he distributed these pea- 
nuts among his followers, whom he taught to 
plant and cultivate them. To-day millions of 
pounds of peanuts are exported from China 
yearly. 

When the Chinese farmer harvests his sweet 
potatoes and peanuts he puts the vines back 

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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


into the ground to enrich the soil for the next 
crop. He stores peanuts for use in the winter 
months just as he does wheat, corn, bacon, or 
anything else. I cannot understand why Amer- 
ica cannot grow as many peanuts as she con- 
sumes, but she doesn’t. We import San Fran- 
cisco peanuts from China. This seems strange, 
but no stranger than for the Chinese to be buy- 
ing American cigarettes. We exchange our ex- 
cess products. You may wonder why I was in- 
terested in peanuts or potatoes and other com- 
modities that were raised in foreign countries. 
It was part of my work. In helping to find 
markets for these products I was also expanding 
the market for American cigarettes. Our sales 
have justified these efforts on my part. 

We always found the Chinese officials very 
cooperative. They often offered aid before we 
asked for it. Once when I was in Peking, I re- 
ceived a note from the secretary of the Premier 
of China requesting me to call on him the next 
morning at eight o’clock. At the appointed hour 
I was there. I was ushered into his reception 
room. When we had exchanged the courtesies 

[ 198 ] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


of the day, he told me that he wished to ask 
me a few questions which he hoped I would 
answer. I replied that I would try to do so. He 
said that he knew that we were going through 
the country advertising and selling cigarettes 
and that he was afraid that we might get into 
trouble with the Chinese people, who do not 
readily understand foreigners. He knew that 
we had not as yet been seriously annoyed, and 
he wanted to know how we had avoided it. I 
told him that we had no misgivings whatever 
about difficulties with his people, as we treated 
them with respect and courtesy, to which they 
responded in like manner. I also told him that 
we would do everything in our power to pre- 
vent embarrassing the Chinese government or 
His Excellency. After this part of our conver- 
sation, he invited me to have breakfast with 
him. He offered to assist our company in any 
way he could and told me to telegraph him if 
we ever had any difficulty in the interior of the 
country. 

This Premier had been educated in the 
United States. He told me an interesting story 

[ 199] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


of his school-days in America. He lived with a 
family in New England and attended a univer- 
sity in that part of the country. On one occa- 
sion he and several other Chinese students went 
to Philadelphia with their college mates to take 
part in a baseball game. They were in Philadel- 
phia for three or four days, where they met the 
manager of a large locomotive works located 
near the city. He invited them and their friends 
to go through the locomotive factory. The invi- 
tations were accepted. After showing them the 
plant, the manager invited the boys to lunch. 
Some years after receiving his degree and 
returning to China, he was made Premier. The 
Minister of Communications called on him one 
morning to say that the Chinese Government 
Railway wanted to buy twelve locomotives. 
The Minister knew that the Premier had been 
abroad and asked him to recommend the best 
type of engine. The Premier told me that he 
knew nothing in the world about locomotives 
other than having seen them on railway lines 
and at that manufacturing plant near Philadel- 
phia, but he advised the Minister of Communi- 
[ 200 ] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


cations to buy the twelve locomotives from the 
company whose shops he had visited. In this 
connection the Premier was amused to call him- 
self an American drummer. He mentioned this 
experience in proof of the advantage to Amer- 
ica of receiving Chinese students to be educated 
in her universities. Later on I met a represen- 
tative of the locomotive company concerned and 
told him the Premier’s story. He replied that 
they had already heard of the incident and were 
continuing their great interest in all Chinese 
students who came to America, doing even 
more for them than showing them the loco- 
motive shops. 

Nineteen hundred and eleven and twelve were 
eventful years in China. In 1911 Dr. Sun Yat 
Sen overthrew the Imperial government and 
became the first President of the new Republic. 
That same year, in Nanking, I first met him. 
We became great friends. We visited each 
other often and had many conversations about 
China and the government he was undertaking 
to establish. As we all know, it was a stupen- 
dous task, largely because he did not have 

[ 201 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


enough trained men to administer the republi- 
can form of government, to which he gave his 
whole life. 

I was proud of my acquaintance with all 
classes of Chinese, the man in the street, the 
gentry, and the officials, including the presi- 
dent. I wanted to become so well acquainted 
with them that I could call them up on the tele- 
phone, seek a personal interview, send a letter 
or telegram, and have them know at once who 
I was. I enjoyed getting their outlook on the 
future and being of assistance to them when- 
ever I could. 

I became well acquainted with the late Yuan 
Shih Kai, who was in my opinion the best ad- 
ministrator of his day in China. He was the 
second president of the Republic and accom- 
plished a great deal. He had translated the 
biographies of several American statesmen, in- 
cluding President Grant. I once visited Presi- 
dent Yuan Shih Kai at his request. I was tu- 
tored by a young secretary of his in the formali- 
ties I should have to observe when I met the 
President. This young man told me that the 

[ 202 ] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


President would not shake hands with me, and 
outlined what my conduct should be in the pres- 
ence of the President. I was so much tutored 
that I was embarrassed, fearing that I might 
forget some part of the etiquette. 

On arriving at the President’s palace, I was 
immediately received by one of his secretaries 
and ushered through a maze of doors to the 
room where the President was to receive me. 
We arrived at a glass door, which was opened 
from the inside for me to pass through. A Chi- 
nese gentleman standing inside caught me by 
the right hand, put his left hand on my shoul- 
der, and greeted me. I did not know who he 
was, and after shaking hands with him, I pro- 
ceeded to an adjoining room where I expected 
to find the President. Imagine my embarrass- 
ment when I discovered that the man who had 
caught my hand and escorted me into the room 
was Yuan Shih Kai himself. I could no longer 
follow my tutor’s instructions. The President 
invited me to sit down. One of his secretaries 
asked me if I spoke French. When I replied 
that I spoke only English, an English-speaking 

[ 203 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


secretary came to interpret our conversation. 
There was very little formality about the recep- 
tion, except perhaps for the two cups of tea 
which were brought in by a servant and put on 
the table, one in front of the President and the 
other in front of me. My tutor had told me 
about these conventional cups of tea. When the 
President wished to indicate that the interview 
was ended, he would take a sip from his cup, 
and I must immediately take a sip from mine 
and bow myself out of his presence. 

The President’s conversation was on general 
topics. He asked me if I knew General Grant. 
I told him that I knew the general by reputa- 
tion only, but that I had great respect for him. 
President Yuan Shih Kai continued, saying 
that he had had Grant’s speeches translated and 
that he knew almost everything Grant had writ- 
ten. He had had the pleasure of meeting Gen- 
eral Grant when the latter made his famous trip 
around the world. On General Grant’s return 
to America, Yuan Shih Kai, who was then an 
army officer, had carried on a friendly corre- 
spondence with him, of which he was very 

[ 204 ] 


SOME CHINESE CHARACTERS 


proud. He expressed great admiration for 
President Roosevelt, whom he said he intended 
to meet. Then he asked me what he could do 
for me. I replied that I had always had a great 
desire to meet a Chinese soldier and statesman 
and that I was honored to have been granted 
this interview. 

I was momentarily expecting to see the Presi- 
dent take up his cup of tea as a signal for me to 
go. However, he kept on talking. Again he 
asked me if there was something I wanted of 
him. I replied, “Nothing.” A servant brought 
in two glasses of champagne and placed one 
before each of us. A third time the President 
asked me what I wanted, and, thinking that 
possibly this was a cue for my departure, I 
thanked him for the interview and rose to go. 
He urged me to stay seated and said that he 
wanted to continue our conversation, as I was 
the first man he had ever interviewed who did 
not want something of him. After a visit of an 
hour and a half, he sipped his tea, and I sipped 
mine. He invited me to come to see him when- 
ever I felt like it. He also gave me a card to 

[ 205] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


show at the entrance of his palace which would 


enable me to secure an audience with him at any 
time without having an engagement. 

During the interview I noticed that the Presi- 
dent was smoking a brand of our cigarettes. He 
did not know it was one of our make, for when 
I asked if I could send him a few cigarettes, he 
declined, saying that he had been smoking this 
kind ever since he was a boy and liked them so 
well that he would smoke no others. I informed 
him that the brand was one of our manufac- 
ture. This interested him greatly. I sent him 
fifty thousand of his favorites, and a gold ciga- 
rette case on which was a jewelled emblem of 
his rank as Senior Guardian of the Heir Ap- 
parent. Later he gave me one of the silver 
memorial dollars which he had had coined for 
his friends. I still have this Yuan Shih Kai 
token. 


[206 ] 


VUAN SH LH KAT MEMORIAL DOLEAR 


CHAPTER VIII 
SOME CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS 


S I HAVE already said, I landed in Shanghai 
Ai 1897. I located in the Foreign Conces- 
sions, the part of the city which had been set 
aside by the Chinese government in agreement 
with some of the foreign powers for the resi- 
dence of their nationals. Similar concessions 
were granted in most of the treaty ports; viz., 
Tientsin, Hankow, Chefoo, Newchwang, An- 
tung, Kiukiang, and Chinkiang, where the for- 
eigners lived in their own little groups. Each 
of the great powers except the United States 
had its concession. At one time the Chinese had 
offered the United States a concession in 
Shanghai, known as Hongku, which is still 
thought of by the Chinese in the city as the 
American settlement. But the United States 
did not take up this concession, and it was as- 
similated by the section now known as the 
international settlement. 

The United States refused another conces- 
sion in Tientsin and still another in Antung. In 
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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


fact, she has consistently refused to accept 
these settlements in Chinese cities. The Amer- 
icans whom I met when I first went to China 
differed as to the policy of the United States 
concerning these concessions. Some insisted 
that our government should accept them; others 
thought it would not be wise to do so. In think- 
ing over the policy myself, I came to the con- 
clusion that the United States had refused these 
concessions because eventually they would have 
to be returned to China, and in the meantime 
the responsibility of administering these mu- 
nicipalities within foreign cities would rest 
upon the United States. Furthermore, I did 
not then and do not now believe that the Chi- 
nese would have been any more willing to trade 
with us by virtue of our having concessions in 
the treaty ports. When China establishes tariff 
autonomy and abolishes extra-territoriality, the 
foreign concessions will, as a matter of course, 
revert to the Chinese government. 

The international settlement in Shanghai is 
a modern city, built principally by the British. 
It has a population of at least two million 

[ 208 ] 


CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS 


people; is well-governed and organized; has 
good sanitation, electric power, and water 
works. Shanghai itself is a model city which 
foreigners have built. No doubt, the British, 
who are largely responsible for the existing 
municipal government in Shanghai, intended 
that it should be taken as a model by the Chinese 
throughout the entire country. Perhaps the 
Chinese will so regard it as time goes on. The 
international settlement of Shanghai employs 
trained engineers, electricians, and road-build- 
ers. The telephone system has underground 
wires. 

When these foreign settlements, particularly 
that at Shanghai, are turned over to the Chi- 
nese, there will be need of trained Chinese to 
govern them. For this reason, I have always 
thought that the Chinese should be represented 
on the municipal council of Shanghai. My na- 
tive friends will agree with me that to govern 
a city of its size requires experienced men. The 
Chinese ought to have these men in training 
now. They have some who are perfectly com- 


[ 209 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


petent, but not a sufficient number. This is true 
of all the foreign settlements in China. 

Shanghai, including Shanghai Municipality 
or the foreign settlement, is governed by a city 
council, which gets its real power from the for- 
eign diplomatic corps in Peking. When Shang- 
hai Municipality was provided for in the 
treaties between China and the powers, the 
plan was to set aside a section of the city in 
which the foreigners could live according to 
their own customs. In laying out this settle- 
ment, provision was made for a garden or 
park, consisting of about two acres, in which 
no Chinese were to be allowed. The park was 
planned particularly as a place for the children 
to go in the afternoons. In the evenings the 
foreigners gathered here for a band concert, 
paid for by the municipal council. 

For some years things moved along satisfac- 
torily between the foreigners and the Chinese. 
But conditions changed. As Shanghai grew, 
the foreigners came to include Koreans, Japa- 
nese, East Indians, Filipinos, and Siamese, all 
of whom had access to this park. The Chinese 

[210] 


CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS 


were the only Asiatics excluded, and considera- 
ble feeling on the point developed among them. 
The municipal council had, it is true, provided 
a special park for the Chinese, but very few of 
them availed themselves of its privileges. They 
would have preferred to share the park used by 
the foreigners, to which all other nationalities 
had entrance. I can readily see both sides of the 
case. 

With the growth of the city, additional parks 
were laid out. The Chinese had free access to 
these. But, by this time, their right to go into 
the original park had become a bone of conten- 
tion between them and the foreigners. It seems 
to me that since other Asiatics used the original 
park, the foreigners had little to gain by exclud- 
ing the Chinese. Moreover, as Shanghai ex- 
panded, many new streets were opened in the 
western district, and the foreigners, who for- 
merly lived close to the park, moved further out 
and used the race course grounds for golf, 
cricket, baseball, and lawn bowls. Children, 
who formerly went to the park daily, now 
played on these grounds because they were 

[211] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


larger and nearby. So the foreigners no longer 
relied so much on the old park from which the 
Chinese were excluded. I know that after I 
moved out into the western district to live, I 
seldom went back to the gardens, but went to 
the race course instead, as did all of the rest of 
the foreigners. 

The land regulations of Shanghai Munici- 
pality, which were approved by the diplomatic 
corps in Peking, prohibited the Chinese from 
owning land in the concession. Everyone knew, 
however, that this regulation was evaded by 
Chinese, who bought land in the settlement 
under the name of some foreigner. They paid 
the taxes on this property through the for- 
eigner whose name they had used, but they had 
no representation on the municipal council. 

The municipal council was composed of 
eleven members: eight Britishers, one German, 
one American, and one Japanese. Shanghai 
Municipality employed Chinese police and en- 
gaged Chinese clerks for all municipal offices. 
Still the Chinese kept on insisting upon repre- 
sentation on the council, until it was recently 

[212 ] 


CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS 


granted. This will give some idea of the fric- 
tion which has arisen between the Chinese and 
the foreigners in Shanghai Municipality. 

My observations in China have led me to be- 
lieve that a walled city is not as progressive as 
a town or city that does not have a wall around 
it. This condition may be due to the conserva- 
tism of the ruling classes in the walled cities. 
The magistrates do not take sufficient interest 
in new things. They are content with the old 
customs. Where a city has outgrown its walls, 
I would say that the part of the town outside 
the wall is more progressive than that inside, 
that is, in so far as business methods are con- 
cerned. 

Just after the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 the 
wall around the city of Tientsin was razed, and 
a street-car line was laid down. No sooner had 
this happened than the Chinese themselves be- 
gan to broaden and pave the streets, putting in 
water works, electric lights, and telephones. 
The city was much improved. For many years 
it was debated whether or not the wall around 
the Chinese city of Shanghai should be re- 

[ 213 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


moved. When it was finally taken down the 
streets were widened and modern improvements 
put in. Land that was formerly inside the wall 
increased in value. The ruling class was re- 
placed by men who seemed to have new ideas of 
how things should be done. At any rate, the city 
made greater progress after the wall was taken 
down. 

Now I am not advocating razing the walls of 
all the enclosed cities of China, but I believe 
that anyone who knows that country will agree 
with me that the walled cities have a different 
attitude toward western ideas than have the 
cities without walls. The towns of Harbin and 
Fu Shien Dien illustrate this point. They are 
located in Manchuria, about four miles apart 
on the Sanguri River. The government of the 
latter town is administered entirely by the 
Chinese, a great many of whom have moved 
into Fu Shien Dien in the past fifteen years. 
When I first knew the place it had about thirty 
thousand people; to-day its population is at 
least two hundred and fifty thousand. Many of 
the newer inhabitants came from Shantung 

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CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS 


Province, where they did not exhibit the same 
enterprise they have shown in their new home. 
Fu Shien Dien now has all modern improve- 
ments and many well built brick buildings four 
or five stories high. The municipal council is 
composed chiefly of younger Chinese who were 
educated in various parts of China or in Amer- 
ica. The citizens of Fu Shien Dien are justly 
proud of their city. Its trade is increasing from 
year to year. The country around produces 
wheat, barley, oats, cattle, sheep, pigs, beans, 
potatoes, and cabbage, all of which find a ready 
market. Mukden, which has retained its wall, 
shows none of these evidences of growth in 
comparison. 

In the past two years more than a million and 
a half Chinese have immigrated from Shantung 
Province into the thinly populated sections of 
Manchuria and Mongolia. If they exert the 
same influence on other towns that they have 
shown in Fu Shien Dien, I predict there will be 
many more towns in Manchuria like it. 

The walls around the cities of China were 
originally put there for protection, just as in 

[215 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


the Western world we built a fort at the mouth 
of a river or at a seaport. But in recent years 
they have become obstacles to progress and 
have cramped the development of the towns 
around which they are built. The effect is like 
that of a small room upon a business man. Put 
him in a tiny room to do important work, and I 
believe that his ideas will not be as broad or his 
mind as alert as is the case with a man working 
in a larger room. When I was in a walled city 
at night and the gates were closed at six o’clock, 
I might have felt somewhat safer for being on 
the inside, but the next morning, when I got up 
and looked around the world, it had, compara- 
tively speaking, narrowed down to the confines 
of the wall. I could look up to the sky, but it 
seemed that I did not have the same freedom 
of thought or action inside of the wall which I 
had on the outside. I was treated so courteously 
everywhere I went that I did not feel the need 
of the walls for protection, and when I passed 
through the gate and started on my journey to 
another town I felt freer than when walled in. 
[ 216 ] 


CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS 


Perhaps in the walled cities I felt the restric- 
tions imposed upon the people living there. 

I have often wondered whether the wall was 
not in a, way accountable for China’s not mak- 
ing progress in government and in the indus- 
tries. In the enclosed cities families own the 
same land from one generation to another. 
They seldom sell it. Shop rentals are not ex- 
cessive until a change is made in the tenant. 
Once, in renting a shop in a walled city, I asked 
the occupant of the shop what rent he wanted 
for it. He told me thirty dollars a month, which 
I considered very cheap. I offered to take the 
place for five years at that price. Then he ex- 
plained that I would have to settle with the 
owner of the land and the shop. I dis- 
covered that while a rental for the shop of 
thirty dollars a month was quite satisfactory, I 
would have to pay forty-five hundred dollars to 
the owners. This custom was effective when a 
new tenant took possession of a store. Conse- 
quently there were very few such changes 
made. Occupancy was passed from one gener- 
ation to another at a fixed monthly rental; but 

[217] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT -: 


a new tenant had to pay a sum of money such 
as was demanded of me. Feeling that thirty 
dollars a month was too little for the place I 
wanted, I offered sixty dollars a month instead. 
But the owners of the land and shop were very 
conservative and said I would have to conform 
to the custom, as everyone else did. Such con- 
ditions as these did not obtain in towns that had 
no walls around them. 

I have visited cities whose walls were very 
beautiful, but whose shops were not as well kept 
as were those of towns not walled. There is 
little civic pride among people whose vision is 
limited by walls, unless they look up to the sky. 
Take, for example, the walled city of Hang- 
chow, which has very narrow streets. The 
broadest street in the city runs right around it 
on the inside of the wall and is only about 
twenty feet wide. The town has eight hundred 
thousand people. They manufacture fans, 
which are shipped all over the world. Hang- 
chow has overflowed its walls. Beyond the wall 
one finds modern improvements, such as electric 
lights, telephones, and water works. There are 

[218 ] 


CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS 


good streets, cotton mills, silk mills, theaters, 
hotels, and the consulates of the various pow- 
ers. This part of the town is governed by people 
who are not ultra-conservative in their ideas. 

In many ways China is the most self-con- 
tained country that I know. The majority of 
the people travel very little. This isolation of 
the Chinese village, town, or city largely ac- 
counts for its political autonomy. Local cus- 
toms everywhere reflect and preserve the past. 
In a Chinese town there is always to be found a 
natural social leader. What he does, the others 
aspire to do. He sets the fashions. If his wife 
appears in a costume different from that of the 
other women, the rest of them adopt that mode. 
But in China as elsewhere in the world, such a 
leader must have the power and poise to main- 
tain his position. 

In Kiangsu Province, about eighty miles 
from Shanghai on the Grand Canal, is a town 
called Wusih. Just back of the town is a hill 
which the Chinese call a mountain. It is about 
fifteen hundred feet high and overlooks Tahku 
Lake. Wusih produces a good quality of rice, 

[ 219 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


and around the edge of the lake are many mul- 
berry trees on which the silk worms feed. The 
Wusih silk is highly rated among Chinese 
assets, as are the beautiful embroideries for 
which Wusih has long been famous. 

I once went to Wusih on a house boat 
which I left tied along the outskirts of the 
village. Wusih is not a treaty port. My pass- 
port for traveling in the interior of the country 
gave me permission to stop in the non-treaty 
ports for three days only. But no sooner had 
my house boat been moored on the bank of the 
canal than I was informed by a young man 
from the magistrate’s office that I could not stop 
there. However, I presented my papers and 
explained that I was going to stay for two days 
only and that I hoped this would be allowed by 
the magistrate. Later I consulted the official 
himself. After examining my Chinese pass- 
port, he said that I must move my boat to a place 
he designated, which was very near the spot I 
had selected. The next morning I called on him 
again to present my papers and explain my mis- 
sion. He was a very courteous old gentleman 

[ 220 ] 


CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS 


and took time to tell me something of the his- 
tory of his town. 

Many years previous an American missionary 
school for men and women was established 
there; some of the graduates had gone to Chi- 
nese universities or to America for further 
study. One of them, after finishing his educa- 
tion in an American university, had returned 
to Wusih. Through his influence his father 
erected a flour mill equipped with American 
machinery, which was operated with such suc- 
cess that a second was soon put up. This was 
followed later on by several cotton mills. 

There was a splendid esprit de corps in the 
government of this town, encouraged by a lively 
community spirit. The suggestions of the city 
fathers were adopted by the townspeople, who 
cooperated in carrying them into effect. The 
mission schools were continued, and students 
sent abroad. When they returned, their schemes 
for modernizing the city were put into practice. 
The town was revolutionized by their efforts. 
The Wusih municipal council at that time 
numbered seven men, who collected the taxes, 

[221] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


which were low, built new streets, and improved 
the general living conditions of the place. The 
changes were felt not only locally, but through- 
out the province. They were respected by the 
central government, which made no attempt to 
interfere with affairs in Wusih. 

We must bear. in mind that the district 
around Wusih produces rice and silk, both of 
which are readily sold and which afforded the 
people a surplus over and above their living. 
This margin was used by the educated class to 
erect flour and cotton mills and to encourage the 
making of silk embroidery. Their interest in 
these industries has affected their daily lives. I 
have seen in Wusih a shed in which ten to 
twenty-five women were working on a piece of 
silk brocade on which there was not a speck of 
dust, though the sides of the shed were open. 
Somehow they managed to keep the silk clean, 
and when it was finally finished the embroidery 
was perfect. 

Apart from the theatres, the chief amusement 
of the place is to go up the mountain, which is 
covered with wild flowers, and to watch the 

[ 222 ] 


CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS 


sampans on the lake. A sampan is a boat used 
‘in fishing with cormorants. The Chinese boat- 
men are quite alert. When they see a school of 
fish they signal to the cormorants, who dive 
overboard and bring back fish in their bills. 
There is a ring around the neck of each bird to 
prevent it from swallowing its prey. 

In modernizing itself, Wusih has kept 
many of its old customs. The educated class, 
acting through the city council, were not willing 
to do away with the old temple on the Grand 
Canal, with its crooked stone pathway from 
the edge of the water into the sanctuary. So 
the temple and its traditions were preserved. 
Wusih has increased in wealth from day to day. 
Instead of yielding prestige to Shanghai, a city 
of two million people only eighty miles away, it 
has gone ahead and is still progressive. 

From Wusih one can go to Soochow by the 
Grand Canalor by railroad. Soochow is a city of 
one million inhabitants fifty-two miles from 
Shanghai. The city has a wall and a moat 
around it. Within is located Soochow Univer- 
sity. The country around produces principally 

[223 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


silk, which brings a good price. But Soochow 
has never made the progress that Wusih has 
made. Its citizens do not take the same interest 
in their city that the Wusih people manifest. 
They are more inclined to go to Shanghai to 
establish their industries and they are little 
interested in their own city government. In 
other words, they seem satisfied to let things 
drift along. It is hard to understand how there 
can be so much difference between two towns 
so close together. 

Continuing our journey one hundred and fifty 
miles from Soochow, we come to Nanking, 
which is the capital of Kiangsu Province and 
which was formerly an educational center. Very 
few modern improvements have been made in 
Nanking. There are no manufacturing plants. 
The people have little ambition or vision. The 
government built a street railway there and 
paved some of the thoroughfares, but the city 
does not go forward. I attribute this difference 
between Soochow and Nanking on the one hand 
and Wusih on the other to the difference in 
municipal leadership. Go anywhere in China, 

[ 224] 


SINVYOWAOD HLIM ONIHSIA 


‘AON ‘AeMol[eH suimy Aq opoy 


CHINESE CITIES AND TOWNS 


and you will hear of the progress that the people 
of Wusih have made. 

Wusih is governed entirely by Chinese and 
has always been, but these men have been will- 
ing to be influenced by other parts of the world. 
One finds in Wusih young men reading the 
latest authorities on city government. They 
understand what they read and apply it to their 
own city, taking into consideration, of course, 
their resources and peculiar problems. The in- 
habitants of Wusih are eager to show off their 
town, particularly the four-story hotel with the 
roof garden. Visitors are told that this hotel is 
patterned after those in America. One infers 
from one’s guide that all hotels in America 
have roof gardens. 

Forty miles from Nanking, also on the Yang- 
tse River, is the town of Wuhu, in Anhwei 
Province. This province is the greatest rice- 
growing district in that part of China. The 
late Li Hung Chang was a native of Anhwei 
Province. His tomb is there, and his estate had 
large interests in this part of the country. Al- 
though Wuhu exports much rice, it is not a 

[ 225 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


progressive place. There are one or two cotton 
mills and a brick yard, but the city government 
seems to take very little interest in improving 
the town. It does, however, have electric 
lights. A great many of the Chinese higher 
officials have come from Anhwei Province. I 
have never been able to understand why they 
did not improve the town of Wuhu, where they 
were born and raised. 

In many provinces the Chinese have been con- 
tent to look backward. They do not seem to 
realize how delightful it is to create something 
for a future generation to use and develop. Cre- 
ating a town, provincial, or federal government 
is a fascinating undertaking, and I believe that 
the Chinese will, ere long, catch this spirit from 
such places as Wusih. Then they will ac- 
complish much, for they have already demon- 
strated their ability to organize a modern city 
where they have their own men trained to do 
the work. 


[ 226 ] 


CHAPTER 1X 
IN SOUTHERN ASIA 


IAM, one of the far-away, tropical countries 
ec I visited, is famed throughout the 
world for its white elephants. Bangkok, the 
capital city, is located on a river about thirty- 
five miles from the sea coast. On my arrival 
there I saw a great many elephants, but they 
were not white, rather of a light dove color. 
When I asked where the white elephants were, I 
was told that they were sacred and could not be 
seen except on special occasions. The first of 
them I saw was a distinct disappointment, be- 
cause it was not as white as I had expected it 
to be. 

Shortly after reaching Bangkok, I called at 
the American Legation to pay my respects to 
the American Minister, who proved to be a 
charming man from Michigan. Next I made 
the acquaintance of the merchants and, in gen- 
eral, laid plans for the introduction of cigar- 
ettes. With a stock of them on hand, we were 

[ 227 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


in a position to have them on sale in the shops 
within a few days. 

We were not satisfied to rely entirely upon 
the trade in Bangkok, so I engaged a long, nar- 
row, flat-bottomed boat to take me up the river. 
The boat drew about two feet of water when 
loaded with five million cigarettes, our food, 
and clothing. It was rowed by about twenty- 
five Siamese oarsmen, who made good time. In 
thirty days we reached Changmai in northern 
Siam near the Burmese border. No cigarettes 
had ever been sold in Changmai before our ar- 
rival there. Much to our surprise, however, we 
succeeded in selling our entire stock of five mil- 
lion within two days. So we put in a station 
at Changmai and arranged for a regular supply 
of cigarettes. 

Changmai is sutrounded by teak forests. 
Teak is a very valuable wood. In certain sea- 
sons of the year the trees are felled, the bark is 
taken off, and the logs pulled by elephants 
through the woods to the river, where they lie 
in the water until flood time. Then they float 
almost to Bangkok, a distance of about five hun- 

[ 228 ] 


IN SOUTHERN ASIA 


dred miles. They are towed into Bangkok and 
exported to all parts of the world. I found a 
North Carolinian in the teak wood business in 
this town. He had a herd of five hundred ele- 
_ phants, which he kept busy moving logs. They 
were well trained and did most of the work with 
very little oversight. 

Siam has a large missionary population, a 
good many of whom came from the southern 
part of the United States. There is a well or- 
ganized Methodist mission at Bangkok, which 
has been there for more than fifty years. They 
have a school for Siamese girls, which has about 
five hundred pupils. A great many of these 
girls become teachers after being graduated 
from the mission school. 

On one occasion, when I was coming up the 
river into Bangkok on a steamboat, I noticed as 
we approached the city that the flag over the 
American consulate was flying at half-mast. On 
making inquiry, I learned of the death of Presi- 
dent McKinley. We had heard that he had been 
shot, but had had no further news until our 
arrival in Bangkok. We attended the funeral 

[ 229 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


services at the Mission Church. The king of 
Siam sent a representative attended by an-ad- 
miral with two hundred sailors and a general 
with two hundred soldiers, a courtesy much 
appreciated by the Americans in Bangkok. 
Siam produces and exports large quantities 
of rice. Along the river, above Bangkok, are at 
least fifty rice mills, which keep busy all the 
time. Formerly the husks from the rice were 
_ dumped into the river and washed away, but an 
American suggested that they could be used. 
He arranged to have them brought to the plant 
that generates electricity for the street car line 
of Bangkok. Here the husks were burned for 
fuel. This is still being done, but the rice mills 
are now also utilizing the husks in this way. 
Siam has both silver and gold currency. The 
coin most frequently used is the “tical.” Coins 
approximating our five-cent, ten-cent, twenty- 
five-cent, fifty-cent, and one dollar standard are 
made somewhat round in shape, so that they are 
easier to pick up than our flat coins. Gold is 
made into two and a half and five dollar pieces. 
Both the gold and silver coins are often used as 
[ 230 ] 


IN SOUTHERN ASIA 


coat and vest buttons, which are sold at a good 
profit by the jewelers. Siam is off the beaten 
track of tourists, but the few who go always 
take away a supply of these coins made into 
buttons. 

When I was in Siam an American circus de- 
cided that it wanted a white elephant. A man 
was sent all the way to Siam to get it. He tried 
faithfully to buy one, but was unsuccessful. 
After a year’s fruitless efforts, he finally found 
an elephant with some white spots on it. He 
bought it, sewed it up in canvas, and put it on 
board a ship en route to America. After get- 
ting well out to sea, so I am told, he took some 
hard soap and plenty of water and attempted to 
wash the black spots off the elephant. He did 
not succeed, of course. But the proud lexicon 
of youth knows no such word as failure. The 
man painted the elephant,.took it home, and told 
the manager of the circus that it was the best 
he could do. A competing circus accused this 
one of not having a white elephant, and the fact 
was freely admitted. But because of the story, 
circus-goers developed just as much curiosity to 

[231] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


see the poor elephant as if it had been snowy 
white. 

Malay is a wealthy country which interested 
me very much. It produces tin, rattan, pine- 
apples, cocoanuts, bananas, tigers, elephants, 
monkeys, and rubber. America draws its prin- 
cipal supply of rubber and tin from here. The 
food is not very good, and when we left Malay 
after three and a half years’ residence there, 
we decided we would never again eat pineapples, 
cocoanuts, and bananas, for we had eaten them 
three times a day during all that time. 

The climate of Malay is very trying in all 
seasons. Singapore, the chief city, is near the 
equator. I have known it to rain fifty inches in 
a night there, and it rains nearly every day in 
the year. There is no twilight. The sun rises 
and sets at six o’clock the year round. The only 
possible time to get cool is just before the sun 
rises in the morning. But there were no com- 
plaints as we went along the road. They would 
have been useless. Moreover, we were quite 
satisfied with the progress we were making. 
Sometimes, back home, when relating our ex- 

[ 232 ] 


IN SOUTHERN ASIA 


periences to our friends, some of them intimated 
that a man was foolish to go to such places. A 
new man engaged by our company was always 
warned of the conditions under which he would 
have to work. Whereupon, some of them said: 
“T don’t want the job.” It was the pioneer 
aspect of the work that appealed most to us, the 
going into strange lands with an American 
product. 

While I was in Malay, a friend of mine in 
America decided that he would like to present 
his home town with two tigers. Knowing that 
I might be able to get them for him, he entrusted 
me with his commission. I knew the secretary 
of the Sultan in Malay quite well and spoke to 
him about the matter. He, in turn, went to the 
Sultan, who made mea present of the two beasts 
to be shipped to my friend for the zoo of his 
home town. So I sent word to my friend that 
the creatures were ready to ship. He replied 
that he would make arrangements for their 
transportation. 

Time dragged along, as it has a way of doing 
in the East, and after I had fed the tigers for 

[ 233 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


eighteen months and paid for a man to look 
after them, my friend notified me that he could 
not take the tigers, as he had no way to get 
them to the United States. My friends, includ- 
ing the Sultan’s secretary, teased me unmerci- 
fully when they heard about it. Finally, I 
decided to stage a hunt in front of the cage 
containing these two tigers. After they had 
been killed, we had our photographs taken 
alongside them to look as if we had caught them 
in the open. So, at least, we had the pleasure 
of sending the pelts and these pictures to some 
friends back home. 

Little episodes like this kept us diverted. We 
were often in places where cholera, plague, 
leprosy, smallpox, and other contagious dis- 
eases made life precarious. We needed to escape 
thought of them. As years went by, and we re- 
ceived phonographs and records from home, we 
spent many enjoyable evenings with the music 
they afforded. As we became better organized 
newspapers and magazines were sent us from 
home. Although some of them were six months 
old when received, we enjoyed them enormously. 

[ 234 ] 


IN SOUTHERN ASIA 


We read all the advertisements as well as the 
text. They kept us in touch with what was 
going on. 

Burma is known the world over because of 
Kipling’s song, “On the Road to Mandalay.” 
Its products are teak, rice, elephants, tigers, 
rubies, and oil. It isa prosperous country, well- 
governed by the British. Although Burma 
produces much tobacco, her people smoke a good 
brand of American cigarettes. The Burmese 
are very friendly and are unique among Asiatic 
peoples in that almost all of them wear silk. 
They derive enormous profits from their rice, 
which is exported to all parts of the world. 
Japan draws a great deal of her supply of rice 
from here. 

In Burma, too, elephants are trained to handle 
logs for the saw mills. They go out in the 
morning as would a day laborer and go about 

their business with very little direction. Two 

| elephants work together, taking up the long 

pieces of timber with their trunks and putting 

them in piles eight or ten feet high as neatly as 

men could do. They respond promptly to the 
[ 235 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


lunch bell. If they have a piece of timber in 
their trunks ready to stack, they drop it and 
go to the stable to be fed. When the next bell 
rings, they come out of the stable to take up 
their task again. But, like a man on union 
hours, they will not toil a minute after the bell 
rings to stop work. 

While in Rangoon our party planned a trip to 
the Shan States, which lie along the Chinese 
border. We were to be gone about three months 
and looked forward to the trip with great inter- 
est, as we had never been in that part of the 
world before. Everything was in readiness to 
start. Very early in the morning of the day of 
our departure I received a cablegram announc- 
ing the death of my father. I went right on 
with the trip and did not tell my friends about 
the message until a few days later. My remain- 
ing behind could have accomplished nothing for 
my father, and I would have been miserable. 
Time is a great consoler, and my work helped 
me to forget my sorrow. 

Our trip into the Shan States was very inter- 
esting. At Bhamo we found that the only way 

[ 236 ] 


IN SOUTHERN ASIA 


we could get our cigarettes into the interior 
was to repack them in cases that would fit the 
backs of donkeys. These cases had to be tin- 
lined to prevent the cigarettes from getting wet 
when it rained. On the first venture we sent 
one hundred donkeys carrying our merchandise. 
So far as I know, this method of transporting 
cigarettes in tin-lined cases into the mountains 
of Yunan Province is still in use. 

We frequently had to adopt such methods of 
transportation to market our goods. Where 
facilities were meager we sometimes even used 
the mail routes to send small parcels of cigar- 
ettes into the interior. We knew that our to- 
bacco was good, and we used every endeavor to 
distribute it economically, so that people with 
small purchasing power could enjoy it. Al- 
though our merchandise was produced in the 
United States, from which we were sometimes 
twelve thousand miles distant, we succeeded in 
keeping our cigarettes within the means of the 
Oriental consumer. 

The idea of going to India had always 
strongly appealed to me. I do not remember 

[ 237 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


when I first became interested in the country. 
It must have been in Australia, or on one of the 
many steamship voyages that I made, during 
which I had plenty of time for reading. The 
story of Sir George Grey’s conduct, when he 
was governor of Cape Colony many years ago, 
seems to be one of my earliest recollections of 
India. The British government had sent two 
ships to land troops in Cape Colony. In those days 
there were no cables, but Sir George Grey had 
somehow heard of the mutiny in India. On his 
own initiative he ordered the two troop ships to 
sail for Calcutta, where they saved the day for 
the British. Sir George had exceeded his au- 
thority in so doing, but when the whole affair 
became known, the war office complimented him 
on his good judgment. Later, he was made 
governor of South Australia. When I knew 
him, he had just finished a term of office as 
governor of New Zealand. On two or three 
occasions I heard him relate his experiences in 
Australia, and I had the honor of seeing him 
sail from New Zealand on his last voyage home 
to England. 
[ 238 J 


IN SOUTHERN ASIA 


The British have ruled India for almost a 
century and a half. Their government of 
India’s three hundred and thirty millions of peo- 
ple, whose religions are so varied, has been a 
great piece of work, despite the adverse com- 
ment that finds its way into the press of various 
countries. On one of my trips to India I met 
a Frenchman going out for the first time. He 
had read a great deal about British rule in 
India, but his criticisms showed a lack of first- 
hand observation. Our acquaintance was of the 
sort one makes on a long steamship voyage, but 
as I had been through India several times, I 
felt that I had a better right to my opinions than 
he had to his. I told him that I thought British 
rule in India was a success and that I doubted 
seriously whether any other nationality in the 
world could have governed India as well. I 
even told him I was certain that the French 
could not have done so. 

I entered India for the first time through 
Calcutta after a two days’ steamer trip from 
Rangoon. It did not take me very long to get 
my bearings. Before I could attempt to market 

[ 239 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


my products in India, I had to familiarize my- 
self with the currency of the country. The 
purchasing power of the native East Indians is 
very small. Their coins are pie, pice, annas 
and rupees; sixteen annas make a rupee. An 
anna is worth about two cents in American 
money. 

So I set to work to plan a package of ciga- 
rettes which should be made in America, but 
sold for a coin current in India. I had to take 
account of the cost of manufacture, freight, in- 
surance, a five per cent. ad valorem duty in 
India, the wholesaler’s profit, the retailer’s 
profit, and a profit for our company. I even 
took into consideration a prospective increase in 
price of the raw materials in America. The re- 
sulting package contained ten cigarettes and 
was sold to the vast population of India for an 
anna or two cents. That it could be done at a 
profit may astound the ordinary person; even 
he will appreciate the necessity of having a tre- 
mendous volume of business when working on 
so small a margin. We had to expand our In- 
dian business as quickly as possible to reach the 

[ 240 ] 


IN SOUTHERN ASIA 


required proportions. We had to acquaint our- 
selves with the commercial etiquette of the 
country and to learn the freight, express, and 
the parcel-post tariffs. It was like putting one’s 
shoulder to a mired wheel and applying suf- 
ficient force to lift it out on the first trial. 

To merchandise successfully in India one has 
to have the patience of Job. The climate, which 
is very trying except in the mountain district 
around Darjeeling, makes it impossible to use 
Western business methods. We were obliged 
to make constant concessions to the religious 
customs of the people. Sundays are business 
holidays as with us. But in India one must ob- 
serve, besides Sundays, one hundred and nine- 
teen religious holidays. This leaves not many 
more than half of the days of the year for 
work. As our office staff usually comprised 
members of different religious sects, each claim- 
ing his peculiar festivals, the office was con- 
stantly upset. 

All business offices in India must have a 
special room into which Mohammedans can go 
to worship. There must also be a Mohammedan 

[241 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


office boy to wait upon any Mohammedan mer- 
chant who calls; for if this merchant wants a 
glass of water it is necessary for it to be passed 
to him by a Mohammedan. No one else can do 
it, and assurance must be given that no infidel 
has ever drunk from the glass. Many Moham- 
medans insist on carrying their own drinking 
water, which they take directly from the bottle. 
But this bottle may have to be passed by a Mo- 
hammedan servant. In all matters of religious 
custom and local etiquette we deferred to our 
customers. 

In writing of the many sects in India, the 
Parsees should not be overlooked. There are 
in the world today about seventy thousand Par- 
sees, most of whom live in India. They are a 
very conservative people and do not intermarry 
with other sects to any great extent. Most of 
them are wealthy, educated, courteous people. 
Just outside of Bombay on Malabar Hill they 
have built their Tower of Silence. This is a 
cone-shaped building about one hundred feet 
deep and two hundred feet wide at the top. At 
intervals inside the cone are ledges, built out 

[242 ] 


IN SOUTHERN ASIA 


about ten feet. When a Parsee dies his body is 
put on one of these ledges for the vultures to 
devour. Placing their dead in the Tower of 
Silence is an important Parsee religious rite. In 
our organization in India we had a very reliable 
Parsee gentleman. We were never able to per- 
suade him to smoke a cigarette. Though the 
Parsees are fire-worshippers and will not in- 
dulge in smoking, they will engage in selling 
cigarettes. 

There is another interesting phase of doing 
business in India. I had often heard that office 
records there could not be kept private. To a 
large extent this is true. For five rupees, or a 
dollar and sixty cents, one can ascertain the 
amount of another man’s bank balance. On one 
occasion I dictated a letter to my native stenog- 
rapher. After I had signed it, I ordered it to be 
copied into an ordinary letter-copying book. I 
then took the copying book and put it in the 
safe, cautioning my stenographer not to let any- 
body else see it. As the safe was open most of 
the day, however, he had access to this book. I 
had phrased the letter in such a way that if its 

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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


contents became known I would undoubtedly 
hear about it. 

Five or six weeks later I received a call at my 
house one evening from a native, who asked me 
if I was responsible for the letters I wrote and 
signed. I told him that I certainly was if they 
were genuine. Thereupon, he produced a copy 
of my letter, which I read and assured him I 
had dictated. When I questioned him with re- 
gard to his having possession of a copy of my 
letter, he said that he had bought it from a per- 
son in my office, not my stenographer, and had 
paid ten rupees for it. The man’s having a copy 
of the letter made no difference to me; I had 
merely wanted to test the truth of the reports I 
had heard. 

The province of Bengal produces most of the 
jute of the world. Its fibre goes into the manu- 
facture of grain bags, rugs, and bagging for 
cotton. Calcutta is the great jute manufactur- 
ing center. The jute trade has made the people 
of Bengal more prosperous than the inhabitants 
of most of the other provinces of India. Their 
higher purchasing capacity is reflected in al- 

[ 244 ] 


IN SOUTHERN ASIA 


most everything they use. The Bengalese smoke 
a very good grade of cigarettes. 

The railroads in India provide excellent serv- 
ice. The highways are very good, too, except 
that, in some parts of the country, where the 
roads are surfaced with limestone, they are very 
dusty. The forests in India are well cared for 
by the British. When a tree is felled, another is 
planted to take its place, so that the forests are 
. kept replete. The railroads do not have to go 
out of the country for their supply of cross ties, 
which is a big saving to them. Forest land in 
India returns a very good income on the money 
invested in it. 

There are many beautiful temples in India. 
Many of them are very old, but they are in a 
good state of preservation. The Taj Mahal, the 
tomb of a rajah and his wife, is without doubt 
one of the most wonderful sights I have ever 
seen. I am not particularly keen about sight- 
seeing. But in the course of my wanderings, I 
could not resist visiting India’s temples and her 
world renowned cities of Cawnpore, Lucknow, 
Benares, Delhi, and Agra. Our work was more 

[245 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


thrilling, however, than sight-seeing. It was 
pioneer work, blazing the way for the future. 
We kept constantly in mind the brave spirit of 
our American forefathers. Perfectly fresh in 
our memories were the trials and hardships en- 
dured by Lewis and Clark in their journey 
across the American continent. To-day India 
no longer smokes her old hookahs. They have 
been displaced by cigarettes. To me it was fas- 
cinating to be able to play a part in establishing 
the cigarette trade in India. 

In 1898, when I first went to India, the bu- 
bonic plague was prevalent in the country. At 
one time in Calcutta there were three or four 
thousand deaths a day from the plague. The 
government had strict quarantine regulations in 
effect. Every forty miles or so trains were 
stopped, and the passengers lined up on the plat- 
forms of the railroad stations for a thorough 
examination. Those who did not stand the test 
were immediately put into a plague hospital for 
further inspection. We used disinfectants of all 
kinds and seldom went without smoking a ciga- 
rette, because we had an idea that the smoke 

[ 246 ] 


IN SOUTHERN ASIA 


would kill the germs. We did not get panicky 
in the face of the plague. We used every pre- 
caution possible and were not stricken. 

Our doctors had advised us to carry a clinical 
“thermometer with us on all trips in India and 
to take our temperature at intervals during the 
day and, if necessary, at night. We complied 
with this medical opinion for three or four 
months, after which time we decided not to 
bother taking our temperature. Much of the 
time we were running a slight fever, which it 
did no good to think about, and a high fever 
would have made itself known without the aid 
of a thermometer. Despite our good intentions 
not to be depressed by the prevalency of plague 
and other diseases, we must have been uneasy 
at times with regard to our health. I recall get- 
ting dressed one morning to go to the office. It 
was in Calcutta, and we had a friend in the 
house who was quite a large man. While wait- 
ing for him to come to breakfast I inadvertently 
put on his coat to take a walk about the garden. 
Presently it occurred to me that I was thinner 
than I ought to be. Indeed, I became quite 

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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


alarmed about myself. On my return to the 
house I was met by our guest, who told me that 
I was wearing his coat. When I put on my own, 
which fit me, I suddenly felt much stronger, 


[ 248 ] 


CHAPTER X 
ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


T WAS in 1888 that I first visited the Samoan 
Islands. For many years the United States 
had a coaling station at Tutuila, a port which 
our government still occupies. The Samoan 
Islands, at that time, were governed by a native 
king, but a convention had been entered into be- 
tween the United States, England, and Ger- 
many to appoint a chief justice from a neutral 
country. The appointment was given to Mr. 
Cedarcrantz, of Denmark, who came to the city 
of Apia. After two years he resigned and was 
succeeded by an American, the late Chief Jus- 
tice Ide, who also took up his residence in Apia. 
Apia is a very beautiful port. It was there 
that I met and became well acquainted with 
Robert Louis Stevenson. Because of his tuber- 
cular condition, the climate of Apia was well 
suited to him. He built a house on the mountain 
side of the port, where he spent the latter part 
of his life. When he died, he was buried in Apia. 
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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


He was a charming man. I greatly enjoyed our 
many chats together. 

Once when returning from Australia to San 
Francisco on the good ship Mariposa, Captain 
Hayward, we were scheduled to stop at Tutuila 
Straits. Here we were to be met by a boat 
from Apia and were to take on mail and pas- 
sengers bound for San Francisco. On the after- 
noon before we were due at Tutuila Straits, the 
barometer went down to twenty-nine, where- 
upon Captain Hayward immediately gave order 
to batten down the ship. All the port holes 
were closed, and the vessel was made as snug 
as could be to weather the typhoon, which we 
knew must be in the vicinity. Though our ship 
was in only the outer edges of the typhoon, the 
wind and waves were in a fury. Toward nine 
o’clock in the evening we shipped a sea which 
carried away two life boats and about twenty 
feet of guard rail from our main deck. Very 
few of the passengers had come to dinner. 
Many of them were much alarmed at the fierce 
storm. However, during the night the storm 
blew itself out. Early next morning, in a calm 

[ 250 ] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


sea, we reached Tutuila Straits about eight 
hours late. Here we found a small schooner, 
which had come up from Apia sixty miles away 
bringing an order from the Commander of the 
United States naval vessels there for our cap- 
tain to report to him immediately. 

At Apia we began to realize the havoc done 
by the typhoon. We found two German naval 
ships lying high and dry on the beach. Two 
American naval ships, the Lebsic and Vandalia, 
under the command of Captain Richard Leary, 
an officer of great ability, had gone down in the 
storm. An English war-ship, the Caliapore, 
which was lying in the outskirts of the harbor, 
had weathered the gale and got out to sea, but 
had come back and was again in port when we 
arrived. The beach was strewn with the bodies 
of American sailors from the ill-fated ships. 

A courageous native of Apia had been instru- 
mental in saving the lives of a great many 
others. He organized a human life line by tying 
a hawser to a cocoanut tree on the beach and 
winding it around the bodies of a hundred na- 
tive Samoans, who went out in the surf to res- 

[251] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


cue the drowning Americans. Those caught 
were passed along the life line to the beach. The 
man on the end of this line was given a vote of 
thanks by Congress. The king of Samoa re- 
ceived a barge built especially for him by the 
United States. We on the Mariposa carried a 
great many of the more disabled sailors to a 
hospital at Honolulu, twenty-two hundred miles 
away, and the convalescents to the naval hos- 
pital in San Francisco. This was my first ex- 
perience with a typhoon. 

Years afterward in Apia I saw the two Ger- 
man war-ships still lying on the beach, rusting 
away. The United States had salvaged her 
sunken vessels. Also, long after the typhoon 
experience, I met on the China coast a Captain 
Jackson of the United States Navy, who had 
been an ensign on one of the warships which 
were lost in the harbor of Apia. To-day that 
port is a mandate of New Zealand, but Tutuila 
is still governed by the United States. 

Thinking of Captain Leary reminds me of a 
story of his resourcefulness which we heard in 
Apia. He had had an argument with the German 

[252] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


Admiral regarding the procedure to be taken in 
entering the port. The German Admiral in- 
sisted that unless the King of the Islands met 
his demands, he was going to bombard the city. 
Captain Leary thought this unnecessary and 
would not agree to it. However, under the rules 
and regulations of the United States Navy, he 
could not force the issue with the Admiral, 
who outranked him, to the point of open- 
ing fire on the German ships. The United 
States cannot go to war without the consent of 
Congress, and at that time there was no cable 
connection between the Samoan Islands and the 
United States. Consequently, Captain Leary 
had to think quickly of a plan to prevent the 
German ships from shelling Apia and at the 
same time to put himself in position to protect 
his own ships, if need be. So he pulled up 
anchor and moved nearer the shore, so that 
the American flag was flying between the Ger- 
man ships and Apia. He then notified the Ad- 
miral that if he fired over the American flag, he 
would have to take the consequences. Needless 
to say, the Germans did not bombard the port. 
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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


The Dutch East Indies, comprising Java, 
Sumatra, Dutch Borneo, and the Celebes, are 
interesting tropical islands, noted in general for 
their rubber, coffee, sugar, spices, tobacco, tim- 
ber, and petroleum, which is produced in large 
quantities. Holland has successfully governed 
these places for over three hundred years. The 
Dutch have a genius for working in harmony 
with the inhabitants of their colonial posses- 
sions. When residing in the tropics, they adopt, 
as nearly as they can, the diet of the natives, 
which seems to agree with them. Both the 
Dutch and the native young people go to the 
same schools and often intermarry. The chil- 
dren of these marriages are received in good 
society. 

The Dutch officials administer the local gov- 
ernment in a very simple manner. Take, for in- 
stance, the tax on rice. When the rice is har- 
vested, the heads are cut off and tied up in small 
bundles. Then the Dutch government takes so 
many bundles in lieu of taxes; the land-owner, 
so many for his rent; and the rest goes to the 
man who grew the rice. The thing is done in 

[254] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


such a way that all parties concerned can see 
that the division has been fairly made. 

No one ever seems to be in a hurry in the 
Dutch East Indies, but much is accomplished 
just the same. In Java a railway journey is be- 
gun early in the morning and continued until 
about seven o’clock in the evening, when the 
through passengers get off to spend the night at 
a convenient hotel. The journey is continued 
the next morning. The Dutch residents, as well 
as the natives, are very hospitable and polite. 
Hotels are very good if one can eat Dutch food, 
which in Java consists principally of curry, rice, 
and fish. There are many beautiful spots in 
Java; among them, the Botanical Gardens at 
Beitzenborg, which are sought out by botanists 
from all over the world. The old temples of 
Java are worth visiting. 

Sumatra produces a very fine type of cigar- 
“wrapper tobacco, which is exported to the 
United States. This tobacco is grown by Dutch 
farmers, who thoroughly understand its culti- 
vation. Their plantations are equipped with 
every modern convenience. I have often thought 

[255 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


that a tobacco planter in Sumatra is a real 
prince. 

From the Dutch East Indies let us go on to 
Ceylon, which has been modernized under Brit- 
ish rule. Colombo, its principal port, is the 
crossroads of the Indian Ocean. All of the 
steamers plying between Europe, Australia, 
New Zealand, Tasmania, and the Far East call 
at Colombo and usually stop one day. This 
gives the passengers an opportunity to see the 
“Spicy Little Island,” us it is often called be- 
cause of the many spices grown there. 

About half way up the mountain side is the 
town of Kandy. It is reached by rail en route 
to Nuwara Eliya, which is located alongside of 
Adam’s Peak, seventy-five hundred feet in ele- 
vation. The story is that Adam stepped from 
the peak in Ceylon across India to the Himalaya 
Mountains. I do not vouch for this story, but a 
footprint is surely to be seen in the rock on 
Adam’s Peak. From the deck of a steamer, 
coming into Colombo one morning, I saw the 
British Royal Standard at half-mast. Ceylon 
was mourning the death of Queen Victoria. I 

[ 256 ] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


’ attended funeral services in her honor held in 


the public square by the sea. 

In moving about the world as I did, I met not 
only people of a great many nationalities, but 
many types of character. Once on my way to 
China from Calcutta I went through Colombo. 
The morning following my arrival there, I went 
into a bank to get some money. There were 
other people before me, and I had to wait about 
half an hour. While I was waiting, my attention 
was attracted to a distinguished-looking Amer- 
ican couple. The man was about thirty years of 
age, and his wife was about twenty-five. Their 
appearance and conduct made a very favorable 
impression upon me. But when I had received 
my money, I went out to purchase a steamship 
ticket to Hong Kong, and the young couple 
passed out of my mind. 

The next day after my ship had left Colombo, 
I went on deck after getting settled in my cabin. 
The first persons I saw there were this young 
American and his wife. He had a French bull- 
dog on leash, which I estimated had probably 
cost him at least a thousand dollars. As he 

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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


walked around the deck, the passengers insisted 
on petting the dog. I watched this performance 
for some time, until I concluded that the dog 
was an introduction to anyone whom these 
people might want to meet. This later proved 
to be the case. 

The journey from Colombo to Singapore took 
five days, followed by another five to Hong 
Kong. Our complement of passengers was 
thirty persons, which meant that we all sat at 
the same table in the dining saloon. The young 
woman sat at the right of the captain and her 
husband on the captain’s left. My place was on 
the other side of the woman. Our conversation 
was along stereotyped lines. We talked about 
the weather, when we should arrive at the next 
port, how long we should be there, and that sort 
of thing. Apart from an exchange in the 
courtesies of the day, very little conversation 
took place between these Americans and the 
rest of the passengers, who were, however, very 
much interested in them, as they were traveling 
with two Indian servants. Moreover, they bore 
the name of a very prominent and wealthy 

[ 258 ] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


family in the United States, a name seen fre- 
quently in the society news of the American 
press. 

When we went ashore in Singapore, these 
two kept to themselves and soon returned to the 
ship. The day before we arrived in Hong Kong 
I was sitting in the lounge reading, when the 
young man addressed me for the first time out- 
side the dining saloon. He explained that there 
was to be the usual captain’s dinner that night 
and that, when traveling, it was his custom on 
that occasion to order champagne for each pas- 
senger. He asked me for no comment, but I 
told him that I could see no reason why he 
should do this, as many of the passengers proba- 
bly did not drink champagne and might not, 
perhaps, understand why he was providing it. 
Nevertheless, when we went down to dinner, 
there was a bottle of champagne at each plate, 
thirty bottles in all. One or two of the passen- 
gers drank some of the wine, but the greater 
portion of it was left untouched, as I had ex- 
pected. Very few experienced travelers accept 
courtesies of this kind. However, the dinner 

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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


went off very nicely, and afterward we went up 
on deck. 

Though there was nothing in particular to 
excite my curiosity, I was at a loss to under- 
stand this couple. While the young lady and I 
were strolling about the deck, I suggested that 
I could not see why they should be traveling in 
this part of the world in preference to being in 
New York, where things were more convenient 
and where their friends were. She frankly ad- 
mitted that she was tired of traveling and did 
not propose to continue after completing this 
trip. Presently, her husband joined us. He 
asked me what time I intended to go ashore the 
next morning. When I told him at seven 
o’clock, he asked if he could go with me. I sug- 
gested that it was rather an early hour for his 
wife, but he seemed to feel that, since the ship 
was going to be in Hong Kong for several days, 
she could take her own time and go ashore later. 

Promptly at seven the next morning we left 
the boat to find a hotel. We had breakfast to- 
gether, during the course of which he asked me 
to go to the bank with him. Although I did not 

[ 260 ] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


know anyone in the establishment. there, I ac- 
companied him. He presented a draft on a bank 
in Manila for three thousand dollars. The draft 
was honored without involving me in any way. 
As I had other matters to attend to, I bade the 
man good-bye on our return to the hotel. He 
sailed for Manila that same day. 

After being there a week or so, he sent his 
two Indian servants back to Hong Kong with a 
letter to me, asking me to see that they be safely 
put on board a ship for Calcutta. Having lived 
in India where I had always been treated very 
pleasantly, I was indeed glad to arrange passage 
for these two Indian servants. But I could 
scarcely believe it when they told me that their 
erstwhile employer had not given them sufficient 
money to pay their way back to India. Being in 
a hurry, I gave them a few dollars and sent 
them to their native country. 

A few weeks later I took passage from Hong 
Kong via Vancouver for New York, a thirty- 
days’ journey at that time. My business in New 
York took a few days. Then I sailed for Lon- 
don. We had just got under weigh, and I was 

[261 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


arranging for my seat at the table, when some- 
one came up behind me and put his hands on my 
shoulders. Looking up, I recognized the young 
man with whom I had parted company in Hong 
Kong some weeks previous. He said that he 
wished to see me. Wanting to see that my bag- 
gage was safely in my cabin, I invited him to 
join me there. He came to tell me that his name 
was different from the one by which I had 
known him on our trip from Colombo to Hong 
Kong. I told him that I had no objection to call- 
ing him by a different name, but that I thought 
we should have a thorough understanding. 

He smiled and asked what sort of explanation 
I wanted. I told him that I had about come to 
the conclusion that he was a crook and that if 
he would honestly admit it, I would call him by 
the new name. He agreed at once. I inquired 
for his wife, only to learn that the lady who had 
been traveling with him was not his wife, but 
an accomplice, whom he had chosen because she 
was good-looking, clever in conversation, re- 
fined in manner, and for these reasons very use- 
ful to him in meeting the class of people he was 

[ 262 ] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


always seeking. I encouraged him to be quite 
frank with me. At the close of our interview 
he invited me to meet a woman who was one of 
our fellow passengers. I was surprised to find a 
person about sixty-five years old. 

During the voyage we saw quite a good deal 
of each other. I could not understand the tie 
between the young man and this elderly lady. 
I tried hard to find out what it was, but did not 
succeed. One afternoon, when she and I were 
talking, I asked her if she believed in spiritual- 
ism. She said that she did, so I gave her a letter 
from my mother and asked her to describe in 
writing the character of the woman who wrote 
the letter. I now have that description in my 
scrap book. It led me to believe that the woman 
had a good insight into character as revealed by 
handwriting. But I have never considered it as 
evidence for spiritualism. 

Our boat made a stop in Queenstown, where 
an Irish woman came aboard to sell laces, from 
which I selected a present for this elderly 
woman. The next morning we arrived in Liver- 
pool, and I boarded the first train for London. 


[ 263 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


Whom should I find in my compartment but 
this same woman and young man? It seemed 
as if our paths were the same. In London they 
insisted on riding in the same cab with me to 
the hotel. I determined to find out more about 
them. 

I stepped out of the cab first and slipped a 
gold sovereign into the hands of the German 
taxi-starter who greeted us. He looked at the 
sovereign, put it into his pocket, and then looked 
at me. By this time my companions had stepped 
out of the cab and had gone into the hotel. I 
paid the cab fare. Then, turning to the German, 
I told him that the man and woman who had 
just gone in were friends of mine and strangers 
in London, and that I wanted him to look after 
them and let me know where they went during 
_ their stay in town. 

At noon the next day, on entering the hotel, 
I saw the man to whom I had given the sover- 
eign. He told me that my friends had gone 
around to a pawn shop on a street behind the 
hotel. I thanked him and went into the build- 
ing, only to go out the back door to the pawn 

[ 264 ] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


shop. The broker said that the persons I de- 
scribed to him had not been in. So I told him I 
had promised to meet them at his shop and was 
a few minutes late and asked him to say, if they 
came back, that I had gone to the hotel. Then 
he told me that they had left just a few minutes 
before and added that he thought they had been 
on their way to the same hotel. I asked if they 
had arranged everything satisfactorily with 
him. He assured me that they had, that the 
pawn tickets they held had had only three days 
more to run, but that the pledge had been 
redeemed. 

I returned to the hotel, where the young man 
himself told me that they were leaving the fol- 
lowing morning for Canada. This surprised me 
very much, as they had been in London only 
about thirty-six hours. After some good hard 
thinking, I decided to talk things over with him. 
I had seen enough of him to feel sure that if he 
had directed his ability into legitimate channels 
he could have been a wealthy and highly re- 
spected man. I told him this and also warned 
him that, though I did not know his present 

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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


companion, I would make it difficult for him if 
he molested her in any way. I demanded a 
guaranty from him on the spot that he would 
not harm her or take money away from her. To 
let him know that I was in earnest, I told him 
what I had learned from the pawn broker about 
his redeemed pledge, which I supposed he was 
taking into the United States wa Canada to 
avoid paying duty. He was somewhat taken 
aback, but asked me to listen to his story. 

The year before he had been in Venice with 
practically no money. One evening he stepped 
into a gondola. When it stopped again, a titled 
lady came on to whom he gave his seat. She 
thanked him in French, saying that only an 
American gentleman would have given up his 
place to a lady. Presently there was a vacant 
seat beside her, and she asked him to sit down. 
During the few minutes conversation they had, 
he took from her neck a rope of pearls worth 
about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 
He put them into his pocket, tipped his hat to 
the lady, alighted from the gondola, and went 
to Paris. 

[ 266 ] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


All over Europe the next day, the pearls were 
advertised as stolen. He became frightened, left 
Paris, and went to London, where he pawned 
the pearls for one hundred thousand dollars. 
Taking with him as a blind the girl whom I had 
first thought to be his wife, he bought tickets 
for Calcutta and sailed for India. There he 
passed himself off as a very wealthy American 
and plunged on the race tracks to the extent of 
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which 
he requested the book makers to collect in New 
York. When I met him on the ship in Colombo, 
he was on his way to New York. 

The woman now traveling with him, he had 
met on the train. After some consideration he 
had taken her into his confidence and made the 
following proposition. She was to go with him 
to London and advance a hundred thousand 
dollars for redeeming the pearls. Also she was 
to pay his expenses and give him five thousand 
dollars. Then the pearls would be hers. It had 
been done as agreed. Now they were returning 
to America. She had the pearls, and he did not 
propose to take them away from her. He would 

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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


very much rather see his dear friend have them 
than the pawn broker. The five thousand dol- 
lars was the only money he had made in the past 
few months. He considered the transaction 
perfectly legitimate. He finished by saying: 
“Now let me alone. I am a crook, but not a 
cheap one.” 

I followed this man’s record for some years. 
He finally landed in prison and is there yet so 
far as I know. The woman who received the 
pearls had told me the name of her native town 
in America. It was in the West, a place in 
which I happened to have some friends. I later 
learned from them that she did live there and 
was very wealthy. 

In 1904, on the advice of my doctor, I left 
Calcutta by ship for Colombo, Ceylon, a five 
days’ journey through the Bay of Bengal. I had 
a very bad case of malaria. My physician in 
Colombo sent me on to England. The ship’s 
doctor was not very encouraging. On the first 
day out from Colombo he informed me that if 
he had known how ill I was he would not have 
let me sail, since the diet I required could not be 

[ 268 ] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


had on board. I did not pay much attention to 
what he said. I did not know what the matter 
was with me, but I did know that I had paid for 
a ticket which included my meals. After a talk 
with the chief steward and my cabin steward, I 
succeeded in getting what I wanted. 

It was thought that the sea voyage would be 
beneficial to me, but after thirty-some days I 
arrived in London feeling no better than when 
I left Colombo. I consulted several doctors in 
London, who examined the prescriptions given 
me in India and Ceylon. It was decided to 
change the treatment. But the change did me 
no good. 

From London I went to New York in re- 
sponse to a cablegram from the company. On 
my arrival I had an interview with Mr. James 
B. Duke in which I undertook to tell him some- 
thing of the business in India. After listening 
to me for a few minutes, he interrupted to say 
that my job as he saw it was to get well, that I 
must turn over to the office any papers I had 
and pay no attention to anything but my health. 
He advised me to go to Saratoga Springs, New 

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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


York, for the mineral waters. I acted on his 
advice, but no sooner had I reached Saratoga 
than I received a telegram from Mr. Duke, say- 
ing that he had consulted a doctor who thought 
it best for me not to drink the mineral waters 
there. 

So I made myself as comfortable as I could 
in a hotel and kept out of doors as much as pos- 
sible. I went to the lake every morning, en- 
gaged a boat, and fished all day long. But still 
I got no better. After three weeks, I decided to 
return to New York. I told Mr. Duke and his 
brother that I was very much discouraged, since 
my health was not improving, and that so far 
as I could see it would be best for them to se- 
cure someone to take my place in India. I did 
not want them to hold my job open any longer. 

Mr. B. N. Duke’s only comment was to ask 
me to have breakfast with him the next morn- 
ing early. Over our coffee he suggested that I 
consult a Dr. W. Gill Wylie, whom he recom- 
mended very highly. He even insisted on going 
with me to Dr. Wylie’s office. I had no real 
objection to seeing another doctor; but after ~ 

[ 270 ] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


having consulted so many of them in Calcutta, 
Ceylon, London, New York, and Saratoga, I 
doubted whether anyone could help me. Dr. 
Wylie received us immediately. Being under 
the impression that he was a very expensive 
doctor whose time I could not impose upon, I at 
once told him my symptoms. He seemed to pay 
no attention to what I said and wanted to tell 
me about a fishing trip he had just taken and 
about his golf. I was not much interested, be- 
cause I had recently had a great deal of fishing, 
which had not helped me, and I was certain that 
I was not physically strong enough to walk 
across a golf course. 

Finally Dr. Wylie examined me and gave me 
a blood test. While he was scrutinizing my 
blood, he turned to me and said: ‘Where in the 
world have you been living?” I told him in 
Asia, principally, and in India, Ceylon, South 
China, the Philippine Islands, and Malay. He 
said that I had the worst case of malaria that 
he had ever seen in all of his experience. He 
was much interested in’ my case and soon had 
the malaria in hand. I spent three weeks in a 

[ 271 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


hospital. Then he pronounced me cured and 
sent me to the country with orders to stay out 
of doors as much as possible. This I did, and in 
thirty days I gained twenty-five pounds and felt 
well again. 

While I was convalescing in this country, Mr. 
John M. Flowers, who was employed by the 
Company in China, died of small-pox. His body 
was shipped from Shanghai to Durham, where 
I attended his funeral. He was a man respected 
highly by his colleagues in China, and the 
friends he made during his stay there often 
spoke of him years after he was gone. 

I had never been to the inauguration of a 
president of the United States and was much 
pleased when Mr. and Mrs. B. N. Duke kindly 
invited me to join a party of about twenty 
people who were going to Washington for 
Roosevelt’s inauguration. The party consisted 
largely of young ladies from North Carolina. 
The late Angier B. Duke and I were commis- 
sioned by Mr. Duke to look after the young 
ladies and to make sure that they saw the inter- 
esting sights. When we arrived in Washington, 

[ 272 ] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


we found that Mr. Duke had already engaged 
hotel rooms for the party, had engaged seats 
for us on Pennsylvania Avenue, and had ar- 
ranged for places for us on the steps of the 
Capitol close to where Roosevelt was to take the 
oath of office. So our duties were very light. 
Nevertheless, Mr. Duke, who was in New 
York, called us up every day, often three or 
four times, to know if we needed money. I sup- 
pose he thought that two men in Washington 
with twenty or more young women would want 
quite a good deal of money. But as a matter of 
fact, everything was so arranged that we found 
it quite impossible to spend the money we did 
have. 

This story is related chiefly to show the great 
interest that the Dukes took in the men who 
were working for them. It seemed to me that 
they made it their business to repair a man who 
was ill as surely as they would repair a ciga- 
rette machine that broke down. Needless to say, 
care of this kind was greatly appreciated 
throughout the entire company. It was really re- 
markable how they kept in close touch with the 

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A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


business in all countries. They were both great 
advocates of good citizenship and fair dealing. 
Their example was followed by their men, who 
were loyal to them in every way. 

In traveling in Japan I was surprised to find 
that one could buy old-fashioned pound cake 
almost anywhere in the country. As Japan is a 
much older country than the United States, I 
was curious to know whether the Japanese had 
invented pound cake and passed it on to Amer- 
ica, or whether they had learned about it from 
us. Upon investigation, I discovered that when 
Admiral Perry anchored his fleet in Mississippi 
Bay near Yokohama, his cook frequently made 
delicious pound cake, of which the Admiral was 
very fond. On one occasion he instructed this 
cook to make several pound cakes, which he pre- 
sented to some Japanese officials who were his 
friends. They liked the cake very much and re- 
quested the Admiral to give them the recipe, 
which thus became known in Japan. 

People learn all sorts of customs from each 
other. Once a Japanese naval officer came to 
see me and said that he wished to buy some Bull 

[ 274] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


Durham tobacco. I received him with the 
courtesy due his rank and concluded that he 
had been in America where he had learned to 
smoke Bull Durham. I told him that I would 
be very glad to supply him with all the Bull 
-Durham he wanted, and immediately sent out 
to our storeroom for a five-pound carton, 
which I insisted he accept with the compliments 
of the company. He thanked me profusely, but 
said it was not sufficient for his wants, that 
he wished to purchase twenty-five thousand 
pounds. Needless to say, I was utterly aston- 
ished. I asked him what he intended to do with 
that much tobacco. He explained that it was 
for Japan’s naval and army officers, who had 
learned about Bull Durham from the officers of 
the United States Navy. He wanted this to- — 
bacco to be supplied at once, which we were 
glad to do. . 

There was a time when United States army 
and navy officers smoked nothing but Bull Dur- 
ham, except perhaps in deference to a host who 
offered something else. But their real smoking 
pleasure was derived from Bull Durham, which 

[275 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


they carried with them everywhere. The rank 
and file of both the Army and Navy smoked 
Bull Durham, not only because the officers did 
but because they liked it. 

While I was living in India, the British gov- 
ernment sent some sort of expedition into Tibet, 
which is the roof of the world. This expedition 
was organized in the thorough manner char- 
acteristic of the British army. It was headed 
by General Younghusband. One of his officers 
took up with me the question of supplying the 
expedition with tobacco and cigarettes, just the 
sort of thing I loved to plan. To maintain con- 
nection with the outside world a field telegraph 
was to be provided and a field parcel post, 
which was to be manned by about seven thou- 
sand East Indian mountaineers who were fa- 
miliar with the country. The supplies we sent 
to the expedition would have to be carried by 
them the last part of the way. This meant that 
we had to conform to the regulations of this field 
parcel post. Orders from the expedition would 
have to be quickly dispatched. So we packed 
the tobacco in tin boxes, some of which weighed 

[ 276 ] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


about two and one-half pounds, others five 
pounds, and shipped them by rail to a place in 
India called Suguri. Here the boxes were 
placed in the canvas pouches which fitted the 
shoulders of the East Indian runners and were 
carried to their destination. Thus Virginia and 
North Carolina tobacco found its way into 
Tibet and Napaul. 

The ruling rajah of Napaul levied a tax on 
cigarettes in his district. But he found it very 
difficult to prevent cigarettes from being smug- 
gled in from the adjoining provinces and finally 
took the matter up with us. It was decided to 
sell especially marked cigarettes directly to the 
Napaul government. These cigarettes, on which 
a tiger had been printed, were distributed 
throughout the district. If the tax collectors 
found on the shelves of a dealer cigarettes 
bearing some other mark, they were confiscated. 
This scheme worked very well and has been the 
means of a steadily increasing revenue for the 
government of Napaul. 

No matter where we went, we tried to give 
the people the kind of service they wanted. We 

[277 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


were working with too many people to under- 
take to change their ideas. Moreover, changing 
even one person’s ideas is sometimes a very dif- 
ficult thing to do. If possible, we supplied our 
customers with goods in the way they wanted 
them. We never on any account took part in 
local or international political issues. We were 
not qualified to do so. Moreover, we might 
have, by so doing, become involved in affairs 
which would have hindered our work. 

We often helped the people of the districts in 
which we did business to find better markets 
or higher prices for their commodities. We 
won over many a prospective customer by 
our ability to discuss his local business prob- 
lems with him. When Germany put cheap syn- 
thetic indigo paste into the markets of the 
world, it ruined the vegetable indigo farmers in 
India, who were obliged to take up some other 
crop. While the change was taking place, noth- 
ing else was talked of in that part of India. We 
learned a great deal about synthetic and vege- 
table indigo paste. If we visited a country 
where sheep were raised, we had to be intelli- 

[ 278 ] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


gent about sheep. Long ago in some of the far 
interior provinces of India shells were used as 
money. In these places we traded cigarettes 
for shells. If we found a district where ivory 
was current, ivory was accepted. This policy 
paid in the long run. With some experience 
trading like this is not as precarious as it sounds. 
A close observer can usually determine fairly 
accurately the purchasing power of a country 
by its products. 

In some parts of the world I could not make 
acquaintances as quickly as I should have liked. 
I found people reticent, snobbish, or suspicious 
in their attitude toward strangers. I remember 
a town in Australia where I was lonely at first. 
I used to stop to talk to the newsboys. Buying 
a paper served as an introduction to them. They 
discussed a great many things with me. I 
came to look forward with much pleasure to my 
evening meetings with these young urchins, 
who sold papers for a living. They were a fine 
lot of young fellows. 

One evening I invited four or five of them 
to have dinner with me the following Sunday 

[ 279 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


night at a restaurant where a good meal could 
be had for twenty-five cents. The boys asked 
me how many I wanted to invite. I told them I 
would like to have all the newsboys in town. To 
this they replied that there were at least two 
hundred of them. I maintained that I wanted 
them all, so these boys issued the invitation, 
while I went to the restaurant to arrange for the 
party. When I told the proprietor of the place 
what I wanted, he was much pleased, but I 
could see, after some time, that something was 
bothering him. So I offered him a deposit of 
twenty-five dollars on the dinner, which seemed 
to make everything all right. On the appointed 
evening at six o’clock the boys began to arrive. 
About one hundred and eighty came, and we 
enjoyed ourselves very much. 

Before the dinner was over, several news- 
paper reporters, who had heard about it, called 
at the restaurant and were invited to join us. 
Later they asked me why I had given the boys 
this treat. I told them what I have said above, 
that these boys had been very friendly and that 
I had felt it would be a great pleasure to me to 

[ 280 ] 


ISLANDS AND INCIDENTS 


have them as my guests. They wanted to know 
also how the Australian newsboy differed from 
the American newsboy. I said that I thought 
the American newsboy was more alert, perhaps 
because he has to sell more papers than his Aus- 
tralian brother if he is to make any money, for 
American newspapers are cheaper than those 
of Australia. The reporters made a good story 
out of this incident, which became known 
throughout the country. The press made fa- 
vorable comment, and wherever I went the 
newsboys claimed me as their friend. The af- 
fair gave me some very helpful publicity which 
I had not expected. 

A newsboy, in my opinion, deserves the re- 
spect of his customer. Many of them have to 
go on to the streets at a tender age to help their 
families. In some places they cultivate melodi- 
ous voices which carry far. Sometimes I have 
passed by several of them on a street to patron- 
ize the one with a pleasant voice. From their 
contact with their fellow-men, newsboys de- 
velop keen insight into character and often 
know a great deal more than one might suppose. 

[281 ] 


CHAPTER XI 
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


N THE COURSE of my travels I encountered 

many wars and uprisings. I was in the Ha- 
waiian Islands during the revolution there. I 
was in China and Japan at the time of the Span- 
ish-American War. The Boxer Rebellion of 
1900 found me in China, where I also spent 
the exciting days of the revolution of 1911 and 
1912. I happened to be in Manchuria during 
the Russo-Japanese War. And just before the 
Great War of 1914 to 1918 I was sent to Russia 
and from thence to Germany, where I happened 
to be when war was declared by England in 
August, 1914. 

When the Spanish-American War broke out 
I was in Japan. On July 4, 1898, we there re- 
ceived the news of the battle of Santiago. I 
had met Commodore Dewey several months 
before and had seen him sail for Hong Kong 
en route for Manila. Americans in the East at 
that time were more or less depressed over the 
probable results of the battle which we felt sure 

[ 282 ] 


WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


would take place at Manila. It was thought 
that our war vessels were not modern enough to 
compete with Spain’s. When word came to 
Hong Kong that the entire Spanish fleet had 
been sunk by Commodore Dewey, I cabled the 
company as follows: “Entire Spanish fleet 
sunk.” They wrote me later that they had re- 
ceived my cable in New York about one hour 
before the newspapers got on the streets an- 
nouncing Dewey’s victory. 

The American Army of Occupation sent out 
to Manila took with them tobacco and cigarettes 
from the United States. Our soldiers and sail- 
ors smoked nothing but Bull Durham at that 
time. Just after they left for Manila, I re- 
ceived a cablegram from New York saying that 
there was some damaged Bull Durham in the 
hands of the commissionaire of the United 
States Army. I was ordered to proceed immedi- 
ately to Manila to collect this damaged stuff and 
leave in its place thoroughly sound tobacco. 

On my arrival I called on the officers, includ- 
ing the chief commissionaire, to whom I ex- 
plained my mission. He wanted me to abandon 

[ 283 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


the idea. He argued that the American gov- 
ernment had bought and paid for this Bull 
Durham tobacco, thus ending our responsibility, 
regardless of any deterioration or damage to the 
tobacco in question. He was sure that tobacco 
would not keep for any length of time in that 
climate anyway. He was not inclined to give 
me any assistance in carrying out the orders I 
had received from the company. I finally told 
him plainly as I could that he must take into 
account that I had been paid to come to Manila — 
to replace the damaged merchandise with good 
tobacco and that unless I did so I might lose 
my position. I also suggested that his assistance 
would be appreciated not only by me and the 
- American Tobacco Company but by the soldiers. 

Finally he gave me a pass, good by day and 
after curfew. At that time no one was allowed 
on the streets after eight o’clock in the evening 
without a written permit. I was also provided 
with a spring wagon, four mules and a driver, 
and an orderly with the rank of lieutenant. 
Thus accompanied I visited the army camps and 
transacted my business. At each camp the 

[ 284 ] 


WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


party was received with much acclaim. The 
stores of tobacco were thoroughly inspected. 
When damaged stuff was found, it was sent 
back to Manila and replaced by fresh tobacco. 
My work was greatly appreciated by the sol- 
diers and sailors. 

About thirty-two thousand pounds of moldy 
Bull Durham were found in the hands of the 
American Army, all of which was exchanged 
for fresh. This replacement cost us about 
twenty thousand dollars, but the loss was not 
considered for a moment in comparison with 
the good will of our customers in the United 
States Army. I mention this in passing to show 
the vision behind our company’s policies. 

In the battle near Mololos, I was standing 
near General Funston when he was shot through 
the hand. He was standing on the bank of a 
ditch watching the battle through his field 
glasses, when a bullet came whizzing in our di- 
rection. It went through his right hand, knock- 
ing his glasses to the ground. The army surgeon 
gave him first aid treatment. Then he picked 
up the glasses and went on with his duties. 

[ 285 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


I was stopping in General Funston’s head- 
quarters when General Luna was captured. 
Funston was a very humane officer and gave 
General Luna all the honors of his rank, return- 
ing to him his sword and leaving him his side 
arms. At dinner that night, which consisted 
chiefly of army rations, the war was the prin- 
cipal subject of conversation. General Luna 
asked his captor if he might be allowed the next 
morning to visit a brother who lived about five 
miles from General Funston’s quarters. Gen- 
eral Funston consented, and early the next 
morning provided a mount for General Luna, 
with a guard of honor to attend him on his visit. 
The guard was declined by General Luna, who 
said that nobody would harm him, since he was 
in his own country. When he had gone three 
miles on his journey, however, he was shot by 
some of his own people, much to the regret of 
General Funston and others who had met Gen- 
eral Luna. 

After a period of convalescence in this coun- 
try, during which I attended the inauguration 
of President Roosevelt, I was making the neces- 

[ 286 ] 


WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


sary preparation for a return to China. Mr. 
James B. Duke sent for me to come talk to him 
before I left New York. I found him with an 
infected foot attended by Dr. Gill Wylie. Some 
months afterward when I heard that the Dukes 
were developing large interests in water power 
in North and South Carolina, I remembered 
that Mr. Duke and Dr. Wylie had been talking 
about its possibilities that day. 

Mr. Duke had been reading about the Russo- 
Japanese War in Manchuria and wanted to 
know if I had any misgivings about a trip 
across the Pacific while a war was in progress. 
I replied that I too had been following the ac- 
counts of the war, but had never even thought 
of deferring my departure to China. There 
were to be six men in my party, two of whom 
were to join me in Chicago. After some con- 
sideration Mr. Duke suggested that we divide 
the party into two, three men going on one ship 
and three others following later. He said that 
good men were scarce and that he did not like 
to risk so many of us on one ship. However, 
the six of us sailed as arranged, but six others 

[ 287 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


came on another vessel. Mr. Duke instructed 
me to be very careful and not to take any unnec- 
essary chances. 

In San Francisco I seriously reminded the 
young men who were traveling with me of the 
dangers of our trip and told them quite clearly 
that if they could not afford to take the risk, it 
would not in any way affect their positions with 
the company. I told them to use their own 
judgments about going. They all sailed with 
me. 

We were traveling in an American ship. At 
Honolulu we were delayed twenty-four hours. 
Soon after we left there the captain of the ship 
informed me privately that he had orders to go 
to the Midway Islands, so called because they 
are about two thousand miles from Honolulu 
and twenty-five hundred miles from the Japan- 
ese coast. Here the captain took me and two 
or three others ashore with him. The Com- 
mercial Pacific Cable has a station on Midway 
Islands where he had instructions to call for 
orders, which had already arrived. We stayed 

[ 288 ] 


WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


at the cable station for four or five hours and 
sailed late in the evening for Yokohama. 

Soon after we got out to sea all port holes 
were ordered closed and all lights on deck ex- 
tinguished. Even the lights at the masthead 
were not kept burning. This disturbed the pas- 
sengers a great deal. Some of them insisted 
that we were certain to meet the Russian fleet 
somewhere in the Pacific. However, we reached 
Yokohama without mishap and discharged a 
portion of our cargo. From there we went to 
Kobe, where we discharged most of what re- 
mained of our cargo before proceeding through 
the inland sea to Shanghai. The morning after 
we left Kobe found us in Tsushima Straits, 
where a Japanese naval launch flying a black 
flag came alongside our ship. The officer in 
charge of the launch spoke to our commanding 
officer through a speaking trumpet, warning us 
that the Russian fleet was in the Straits. We 
invited the Japanese officer aboard our ship, but 
he declined to come. When he told our captain 
that he had nothing else to communicate, our 

[ 289 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


ship sounded the regulation three blasts of the 
whistle and steamed away. 

That afternoon we noticed flashes on the 
horizon, and some of the passengers were very 
much alarmed. I suggested that they might be 
lightning. But as a matter of fact, they were 
caused by shells from the Japanese and Russian 
warships in the Straits, for as we later learned, 
the Japanese navy had that day destroyed the 
Russian fleet. Some of the Russian ships es- ° 
caped to Manila, where they were interned dur- 
ing the remainder of the war. 

At nightfall fog settled down so thick that 
you could almost cut it with a knife. Our ship 
had to reduce her speed to not more than a mile 
an hour. Normally we should have made six- 
teen miles an hour. So we arrived in Shanghai 
on June 2, 1905, two days late. The Shanghai 
newspaper reporters were quite disappointed 
when they learned that the cause of our lateness 
was nothing more exciting than a heavy fog. 
Their notices of our arrival were very brief. 
They were disappointed, I think, because a 
heavy fog had cheated them out of a head-line 

[ 290 ] 


WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


story of an American ship coming through the 
war zone. 

Acting on Mr. Duke’s instructions, the first 
thing I did in Shanghai was to send him a cable. 
He replied congratulating us on our safe voyage 
across the Pacific. Not only had our voyage 
been safe, as it developed, but it had been in- 
tensely interesting, because we knew at the time 
that two great world powers were in combat on 
the Pacific. None of our party got into what 
the sailors call “heavy weather.” Although we 
were headed for a war zone, we knew that our 
ship was flying the American flag, and that made 
us feel quite safe. The sympathy of the pass- 
engers on board was for Japan. But at that 
time Russia was regarded as one of the most 
powerful nations of the world, so many of 
them thought it rather impossible for Japan to 
win. 

From Shanghai our party went immediately 
to Manchuria, where we met several United 
States army officers who were attached to the 
Japanese army as observers. One of them 
amused me very much one hot evening by look- 

[291 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


ing up into the trees and exclaiming: “Oh, look 
at that fugitive breeze flying through those 
branches!’ It certainly was a fugitive breeze, 
for none of us could feel it. But his remark 
caused a ripple of laughter through the party, 
which contrasted strangely with the sound of 
the Japanese guns around Newchwang to which 
we had been listening. 

The Japanese army maintained a strict cen- 
sorship on all letters and telegrams received or 
sent. We knew that the censor in Newchwang 
was holding up some of our messages addressed 
to Shanghai despite the fact that they contained 
no political matters, but only business affairs of 
the company. The Japanese censor was as un- 
approachable as the general at the head of the 
army. We tried to get an interview with him 
to explain that our telegrams were confined to 
business affairs and that we should feel greatly 
obliged if he would dispatch them quickly after 
he had censored them. But all of our efforts 
were unsuccessful. Finally one of our young 
men who used a typewriter decided to tempt 
fortune. He wrote a letter to our Shanghai 

[ 292 ] 


WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


office in which he called the Japanese censor 
everything short of libelous that he could think 
of. This letter was written, criticised, rewrit- 
ten. Finally it was signed and put into the post. 

The Japanese censor must have read it 
almost as soon as it was mailed. That evening 
about six o’clock we were sitting in the little 
club in Newchwang with the young man 
who wrote the letter, when who should walk 
into the club but the censor himself. He looked 
at us and walked past, only to turn back and 
sit down with us at the table. He had a beauti- 
ful sense of humor. This is what he said: 
“Gentlemen, I have just read the letter you 
wrote to your office in Shanghai about me, and 
I agree with everything in it.” He explained 
that this was his first experience in censoring 
letters and telegrams, and that he thought our 
letter came nearer to the mark than any he had 
received. He said he appreciated our saying 
what we thought about him in a letter, rather 
than calling him names behind his back. From 
then on the censor was our friend, and our mail 
was not held up. 

[ 293 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


After the war this man took up newspaper 
work, and we kept up our acquaintance. Al- 
most every time we met he mentioned the inci- 
dent of the letter censuring the censor. On one 
occasion he mentioned elevating to the Japanese 
peerage the young man who wrote this letter. 
Of course he had:no authority to do so, but he 
insisted that he would use the great influence 
he had with the Japanese government to bring 
it about. But it was never done, and we always 
doubted a little the enormity of his influence 
with the government. 

In the latter part of May, 1914, I went from 
Shanghai to Tsingtao in Shantung Province, a 
port then occupied by Germany. In this beau- 
tiful city in the heart of China, I could have 
believed myself in a German town. After a few 
days there I went on to Tientsin. On June 
eighth I boarded a Trans-Siberian Railway 
train for Moscow. It was a ten days’ journey. 
In the vicinity of various stations along the 
way the Russian soldiers were maneuvering. 
When I made inquiries, I was told that these 
were the summer maneuvers of the Russian 

[ 294 ] 


WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


army in Siberia. In Moscow there was some 
war talk, but I took very little stock in it. 
Then came June twenty-eighth and the murder 
of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, which seemed 
to throw the whole of Europe into a turmoil. 
In St. Petersburg there was more war talk, but 
I proceeded via Warsaw to Berlin, which I 
reached on July twelfth. I had decided to go 
to Kissingen for a rest. At the sanatorium 
where I stayed there were a good many other 
Americans. We received daily newspapers from 
London and Paris, which we read with more 
than usual interest. 

There were rumors of war in Germany too, 
and a few days after my arrival in Kissingen 
the British government issued a white paper on 
war conditions. My passport and German pa- 
pers were in perfect order, so I felt safe enough, 
but on July thirty-first Germany closed up com- 
pletely. We received no mail or newspapers 
after that date. Four days later England de- 
clared war, and the mobilization of the German 
army commenced. I have never seen a display 
of such perfect organization in all my life as 

[ 295 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


followed. I saw in detail the maneuvers of that 
part of Germany where I was staying. Not 
only were the men of the country mobilized, but 
also the horses and other valuable animals. The 
German government knew all the resources of 
the nation. 

One heard much about Russia’s responsibility 
for the war, but I did not allow myself to be 
drawn into any arguments as to who started the 
conflict. However, I knew that Russia had a 
very large army, a very large gold war chest, 
but munitions enough to carry her through only 
a year of fighting. I also knew that she had 
enormous undeveloped iron and coal mines. On 
the other hand, she had very few steel or muni- 
tion plants. So I concluded that even if Russia 
felt herself strong enough to go to war, she 
would within a year be dependent upon Europe 
and America for munitions. This would inevi- 
tably precipitate a revolution. 

When I was in Kissingen there were about 
fifteen thousand people on summer vaca- 
tions. Many had come for the mineral waters. 
A large percentage of these were Russians. 

[ 296 ] 


WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


Feeling between the Germans and the Russians 
in Kissingen at that time grew so bitter that the 
Russians had to be protected by German officials. 
A great many Americans at Kissingen were 
without passports and could not leave Germany 
until they obtained them. We got in touch with 
the United States consul at Eufort, who very 
kindly sent a representative to Kissingen to 
help these stranded Americans. 

I did not hurry out of Germany. While my 
letters of credit were from an English bank, 
and no German bank would advance money on 
them after England declared war, I readily 
cashed my own checks on New York, which 
gave me sufficient money for my needs. I re- 
mained in Kissingen until August sixteenth, 
on which day the entire German army was 
mobilized. 

While in Kissingen I had made the acquaint- 
ance of Mr. and Mrs. Leo F. Wormser, of Chi- 
cago. After some deliberation we decided to 
engage a motor car with a German chauffeur 
to take us to Berlin, three hundred miles away. 
We arranged with the German General in Kis- 

[ 297 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


singen for our leaving. We preferred motor- 
ing to taking our chances on the trains, which 
were all crowded with soldiers. We started off 
about seven o’clock in the morning of August 
16, 1914, with a lunch basket and some good 
advice from the head of the sanitorium, who 
cautioned us to stop immediately if anyone 
hailed us. He said that the farmers along the 
road were armed with shot guns and might 
shoot at our tires if we did not stop. There 
was danger in such an event of stray shot hit- 
ting us. Mr. and Mrs. Wormser and I occupied 
the tonneau of the car, and a young friend ac- 
companying us sat up front with the chauffeur. 

We reached Oberhof about nine o’clock and 
decided to stop at a hotel for some breakfast. 
This took us only about thirty minutes. On 
leaving there we instructed the chauffeur to 
skirt the towns if possible, to observe the rules 
of the road quite carefully, and to drive as fast 
as he safely could. In some places we drove at 
least fifty miles an hour. At one o’clock we 
stopped at another hotel for lunch, after which 
we resumed our journey with the intention of 

[ 298 ] 


WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


stopping at Halle for the night. When we saw 
Halle in the distance, we asked the chauffeur 
what time he could get us to Berlin if we con- 
tinued the journey. He seemed to think that he 
could make it by seven o’clock that evening, so 
we told him to proceed. 

In passing through Potsdam, a few miles out- 
side of Berlin, the left front tire blew out, al- 
though we were then going only ten miles an 
hour. While a new tire was being put on a 
large crowd gathered around us. A German 
officer soon pushed his way through the crowd. 
When he saw the German and American flags 
on our radiator, he remarked that he was glad 
to see an “American Break-Down” in Berlin. 
We took this as a compliment and thanked him 
for it. We reached Berlin safely a few minutes 
after seven o’clock. The manager of the hotel 
where we stopped informed us that inquiry was 
being made about us in Halle. We explained 
why we had changed our plans and requested 
him to tell the officials at Halle where we were 
and to thank them for their kind interest. 

The next morning we called upon the police 

[ 299 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


and showed them our papers. This was accom- 
plished without any trouble. Then we went to 
the American Embassy, where we found a line 
of Americans five abreast almost a mile long 
waiting to get their papers visaed. It looked to 
me as if it would take at least a week for us to 
get into the embassy if we went to the far end 
of the line and came up in order. There were 
three young men guarding the entrances to the 
embassy. At a given signal from inside, they 
admitted ten Americans at a time. These 
seemed to go out the back door through the car- 
riage drive into the street beyond, when they 
had transacted their business. I finally inquired 
of the young man standing in the door at the 
right hand side if Mr. Thomas were in the em- 
bassy. He called my name inside three or four 
times. While he was doing this, I approached 
the man standing in the center doorway and 
told him that I was Mr. Thomas. He let me in 
immediately, enabling me to get my papers — 
stamped without delay. 

While I was in Berlin I saw a great many 
things which set me to thinking. One of these 

[ 300 ] 


WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


was the rigorous German censorship of all let- 
ters, telegrams, and other messages. I had left 
my trunk in Kissingen and had with me only a 
small suitcase containing one change of clothes. 
I was glad when our party decided to proceed 
to the Dutch border. As I was preparing to 
leave the hotel, a well dressed man came up to 
me, called me by name, said that he was an 
American, and that he had an unsealed letter 
which he wished I would post for him in Hol- 
land. I declined to assist him, although ordi- 
narily I should have liked to be helpful. 
A few minutes later, another gentleman made 
a similar request, which I also refused to grant. 
Following this, a comely young woman ap- 
proached me with the story of a sister living in 
Chicago and one in New York, to each of whom 
she had written a letter in the hope that I would 
mail them for her. She offered them to me un- 
sealed, asking me to post them in London, where 
she knew I was going. I told her that I would 
gladly comply with her request if I had any 
assurance that she and the two gentlemen who 
had made similar requests were not German 
[ 301 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


secret-service agents. When I said that I was 
certain she could not want to involve me in any 
trouble with the German military officials and 
I knew the American ambassador and his as- 
sistants would do whatever they could to send 
the letters for her, she smiled knowingly and 
wished me a very pleasant good morning. 

When our party came to the Dutch border 
we encountered a sign across a bridge ordering 
us to halt. We obeyed with our passports in 
our hands. After giving our names, we were 
permitted to goon. All along the road we found 
evidence that local officials had been notified of 
the journey we were making. 

At the offices of the steamship companies in 
Amsterdam Mr. Wormser was informed that a 
friend had reserved passage for him and Mrs. 
Wormser from Amsterdam to New York just 
after the war broke out. The man had not noti- 
fied Mr. Wormser of this reservation, although 
he had made a deposit of one hundred dollars 
on the tickets. For the moment, Mr. Wormser 
could not remember who the man was. How- 
ever, he bought the tickets and turned them over 

[ 302 ] 


WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


to some friends. Finally, he recalled an incident 
which accounted for the booking of the tickets. 
Just as he came out of a New York theater one 
night, a taxicab drove up, the occupant of 
which was having a heated conversation with 
the driver. Mr. Wormser, who was eager to 
get the cab, stepped up to see what was the 
trouble. He found that the occupant didn’t have 
enough money to pay the fare. Although Mr. 
Wormser had never seen the man before, he 
offered to lend him ten dollars. The taxicab 
fare was paid, and Mr. Wormser took the much 
coveted taxi. The ten dollars had been promptly 
returned. Now it happened that the man Mr. 
Wormser had befriended on that occasion was 
in Germany when the war broke out and, seeing 
in the newspapers that Mr. and Mrs. Wormser 
were also there, he assumed that they would 
want to go home and so booked passage for 
them. 

From Amsterdam I went to London. After 
a few days there I took second-class passage 
for New York on a British ship. During the 
voyage we were on the lookout for submarines 

[ 303 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


and German warships, but we made the nine 
days’ trip without mishap of any kind. Some 
months later, after a visit to China, I crossed 
the Atlantic in the opposite direction, going 
from New York to London. Then there was 
much more danger from submarines than there 
had been on the previous voyage. But I always 
realized that I was not taking any more of a 
chance than was taken by thousands of Amer- 
ican soldiers and sailors who crossed the At- 
lantic at that time. 

On this second voyage we were required to 
wear life belts all the time, and our ship carried 
no lights at night. I amused myself considera- 
bly on these crossings by noting the longitude 
and the latitude readings of that part of the At- 
lantic Ocean through which the Gulf Stream 
runs. I decided that this would be an excellent 
place, if any, for the German submarines to 
meet the American fleet. I knew that the tem- 
perature of the water in the Gulf Stream was 
often seventy degrees Fahrenheit, and I felt 
that if a submarine approached the American 
fleet in these waters, it would be extremely 

[ 304 ] 


WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


difficult for the German submarine officers to 
remain long submerged without killing them- 
selves. Musings of this kind relieved the mo- 
notony of the voyage. And often the passengers 
entertained each other by relating the experi- 
-ences of their ocean travels. 

Once, long before the war, when I had 
crossed the Atlantic on a German ship, a very 
charming German gentleman had shared a 
cabin with me. I did not see him again after we 
landed in Liverpool. Just after the war broke 
out, he saw my name in the newspapers, which 
mentioned that I had returned to London. He 
sent me a telegram there from Amsterdam 
stating that he had a young daughter in school 
in England, that he and his wife were very 
anxious for her to return home immediately, 
and that, although he did not know me very 
well, he wished I would do whatever I could to 
get his child back to him. 

After locating the school and calling upon the 
young lady to acquaint her with the contents of 
the telegram from her father, I took the matter 
up with the London police. They assured me 

[ 305 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


that, although Germany and England were at 
war, my friend’s child would be just as safe in 
England as she would be in her mother’s arms, 
but that they would be very glad indeed to 
arrange for her return to Germany. They 
did everything they could to make her journey 
pleasant. 

When I told the head mistress of the school 
that I proposed to send her pupil back to Ger- 
many, she insisted on my paying tuition for the 
unfinished term. I paid it and at the same time 
engaged a chaperone and a gentleman escort 
to accompany the young lady to the German 
border. I stated that I would pay the expenses 
of the trip in addition to giving the girl’s com- 
panion one hundred dollars and the man fifty. 

.I gave the young woman herself some extra 
money and started them off. The next day I 
received a telegram from her father in Holland 
saying that she had arrived safely and that 
everything was all right. A few weeks later he 
sent me a draft on a New York bank for the 
money I had expended on his account together 

[ 306 ] 


WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


with a letter of thanks. I have not seen any of 
that family since. 

One afternoon in Kissingen I went to the 
post-office to see if there was any mail for me. 
As I turned to leave I was approached by a 
‘gentleman and his wife who were accompanied 
by two young girls and two boys. They had 
noticed the small American flag in the lapel of 
my coat. They said they were Russians and 
that they had never wanted so badly to be 
Americans as they did at that time. They had 
come to Germany seeking health; the war 
caught them without sufficient funds to get 
home. They doubted very seriously whether the 
German government would allow them to go 
home. The father’s idea was to try to get out 
of Germany through Italy or Denmark. I asked 
him how many he had in his party, and he indi- 
cated his wife and the four children. At that 
time it was almost dangerous to be seen talking 
to a Russian, but I did want to help him. I told 
him that my resources were extremely limited, 
but that I could give him five hundred marks if 
that would be of any service to him. He ac- 

[ 307 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


cepted the money and my card, and I wished him 
Godspeed on his journey. Things were happen- 
ing so fast that the gift of five hundred marks 
to a man whom I had never seen in my life soon 
passed completely out of my mind. The follow- 
ing year, however, I received a note of thanks 
from the man containing the equivalent of five 
hundred marks. 

I relate these instances to show, or at least 
to give some idea of the disposition on the part 
of the people I met in Germany to assist each 
other in the stress of war. I was treated with 
the utmost courtesy by the Germans during my 
stay there after the war broke out. From what 
I saw in Germany, however, I felt that though 
America was not then involved, she would go 
into it sooner or later, and I governed myself 
accordingly. 

I did not keep accurate account of the num- 
ber of miles I traveled during my long residence 
away from the United States, though a very 
conservative estimate would be 1,500,000 miles. 
But it was always a great pleasure to get home 
and see my friends. One of the most loyal 

[ 308 ] 


WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS 


friends of our men in the East was Mr. George 
Garland Allen, a North Carolinian, whose work 
for the company took him to New York. Mr. 
Allen helped us very much. He was always opti- 
mistic, met us at the wharf when we returned, 
welcomed us home, took us to his house, and 
fed us dishes that we had enjoyed when we were 
boys in North Carolina. No matter where in 
the world we were, he never forgot us. He sent 
us newspapers and magazines, which we read 
from cover to cover. It was he who always sent 
us a cablegram at Christmas and looked after 
our personal affairs at home. There was no re- 
quest or commission given him that he did not 
faithfully carry out, even to buying collars, 
socks, or neckties, though some of the ties and 
socks he sent were flashy and colorful enough 
to distinguish the wearer in the office of even 
an Oriental merchant. . 

Mr. Allen’s interest in us and our work 
spurred us on to greater accomplishments. If a 
mistake was made, he saw the bright side of 
the matter. This encouraged us and helped us 
not to make the same mistake again. He kept 

[ 309 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


in close personal touch with everything that 
was going on. When we came home, we could 
discuss business with him concerning any part 
of the world which we had visited without his 
having to refer to our reports from these coun- 
tries. Like James B. and B. N. Duke, he is a 
great merchant. By his own efforts and merits, 
he rose from the ranks to the most prominent 
position in the company. 


[ 310 ] 


CHAPTER XII 
CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS IN THE ORIENT 


HINA HAS an area of about four million 
.... miles and about one fourth of the 
population of the world. Due to a lack of trans- 
portation facilities these masses of people are 
concentrated in about one fourth of the terri- 
tory of the country. Though China is much 
larger than the United States, she has only 
seven thousand miles of railroad, as against our 
two hundred and sixty-five thousand miles. If 
more railroads were built in China this vast 
population could be decentralized, and yet the 
people would be in closer communication than 
they now are. Additional railroads would also 
help to prevent famines. Produce grown in the 
interior of the country could be brought to the 
more densely populated areas where the famines 
occur. 

The postal and telegraph systems have de- 
veloped much faster than railway communica- 
tion. China has about twelve thousand post- 
offices and ninety thousand miles of telegraph 

[311] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


wires. Telephone subscribers have increased in 
number to about one hundred and twenty thou- 
sand. I have mentioned elsewhere the introduc- 
tion of motor vehicles into China. The Good 
Road Society is developing the highways, which 
always cause increased motor transportation. 

China’s consumption of steel products is very 
small in comparison with that of the United 
States. Her great quantities of coal and iron, 
still largely undeveloped, will some day increase 
her wealth enormously. China has large de- 
posits of both anthracite and bituminous coal, 
but the latter is more widely used. The coal out- 
put averages about thirty million tons a year in 
contrast with America’s six hundred million 
tons. Her tin and antimony resources are large. 
Both are being developed to a considerable ~ 
extent. 

In order to feed her teeming millions, China 
will always have to be principally an agricul- 
tural country. But this need not interfere with 
the development of her manufacturing and 
commercial interests. China’s chief exports are 
tea and silk, for which America is one of the 

[ 312 ] 


CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS 


best customers. The Spanish-American War, 
the Boxer Uprising, the Russo-Japanese War, 
the Chinese Revolution of 1911, and the World 
War, each gave new impetus to trade between 
China and the United States. 

A great obstacle to China’s commercial inter- 
ests is the state of her currency, which is based 
on silver and copper. The government has made 
several attempts to introduce a decimal system 
of monetary values, which should be uniform 
throughout the country, but very little progress 
has thus far been made. The Chinese in general 
have not yet realized the tremendous advantage 
that such a system would afford. As matters 
stand to-day, money fluctuates in value from 
province to province and from town to town 
within a province, thus hindering the free ex- 
change of commodities to the great detriment 
of all concerned. 

It will be a stupendous task to standardize the 
currency for the whole of China. The country 
has competent financiers and bankers, however, 
who ought to make a start. As an experiment, 
they could work out a plan for a particular 

[ 313 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


province and put it into effect. When its practi- 
cability had been demonstrated, the system could 
be extended to adjoining provinces, until the 
whole country had been brought into line. 

As an aid in familiarizing the country at 
large with the standard currency before it is 
adopted everywhere, the government might re- 
quire its postage stamps to be paid for in the 
proposed standard. The next step would be to 
require the customs tariff to be paid in the new 
currency. 

With her cheap labor, China can manufac- 
ture a silk brocade for less than any other 
country. Moreover, her silk brocades are better 
than those made in the United States or any- 
where else in the world. She should exchange 
her brocades for commodities which other coun- 
tries manufacture to better advantage. The 
United States, for instance, makes motor cars, 
typewriters, and hundreds of other mechanical 
devices and appliances which she would like to 
sell to China. Such an exchange would be mu- 
tually beneficial, and China would be able to 


[ 314 ] 


CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS 


give work to her people to the same extent that 
the United States does. 

The province of Chekiang, which produces a 
considerable quantity of tea and silk, also raises 
some cotton, most of which is manufactured 
into wearing apparel for local consumption. 
This industry formerly gave employment to ten 
thousand tailors. In 1911, just after the Revo- 
lution, the natives of Chekiang Province de- 
cided that they must wear foreign clothes. As a 
result, these tailors were thrown out of work, 
and many mills closed down. Several of the 
provincial officials spoke to me about this situ- 
ation. I advised them to circulate propaganda 
showing the foolishness of wearing foreign 
clothes and the wisdom of wearing products 
made in their own locality. When this was ex- 
plained to the people, they went back to wearing 
the domestic articles. In general, however, 
China is manufacturing more and more cotton. 
She has been buying raw material from the 
United States, although she produces considera- 
ble cotton herself. One reason why the Chinese 
people wear cotton clothes is because of the low 

[315 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


cost of laundering. Rates for laundry work 
vary from two to four cents a piece. It is no 
more expensive to have a coat or pair of 
trousers laundered than it is a sock or a hand- 
kerchief. 

When I was in Singapore I wore suits made 
of cotton drill which cost me, made to order, 
three dollars a suit. The climate necessitated a 
clean suit every day. But with my laundry cost- 
ing only four dollars a hundred pieces, I could 
easily afford this. When I came back to the 
United States on a trip, I took these suits South 
with me, where it cost me a dollar to have one 
of them laundered. So laundry expense pro- 
hibited me from wearing cotton in the South, 
where it is grown and manufactured. I seri- 
ously believe that people would wear more cot- 
ton goods in this country if laundry work could 
be reduced in price. 

Cotton manufacturers usually work along old 
lines in marketing their product. The cloth is 
made into pieces, which are usually sold in 
lengths averaging forty yards. On the outside 
of a piece, a brand name is stencilled and a label 

[316 ] 


CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS 


affixed, showing the number of yards in the 
piece. This cloth is sold to a dealer, who in turn 
retails it to the consumer. The ultimate con- 
sumer then does not buy a proprietary article. 
Often he does not know the name of the brand 
of goods he has bought. The result is that the 
manufacturers do not derive a profit indicative 
ofthe good will of the consumer. I should like 
to see them try manufacturing this same length 
of cloth into pieces, long enough, let us say, to 
make a suit of clothes, which is about five yards. 
The pieces should be labelled with a brand name 
and a price worked out that would provide for 
the cost, profit to the wholesaler, retailer, and 
manufacturer, and all expenses of distribution. 
The manufacturer would then reap profits com- 
mensurate with those of the manufacturers of 
spools of thread, towels, sheets, pillow cases, 
and other articles which sell for a small price. 
His brand would become known. If he gave 
good value, people would demand his product. 

As things now are, cotton by the yard fluctu- 
ates in price with the raw material. When it 
goes up, people wear their old clothes. If 

[317] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


lengths of cotton cloth were made proprietary 
articles, as I have suggested, they could be ad- 
vertised with success. A clever campaign could 
lift the brand out of competition with similar 
goods. Almost anyone can manufacture a piece 
of cotton cloth, but the real problem is to make 
a particular brand fashionable and persuade the 
public to ask for it by name. 

It may be argued that this sort of merchan- 
dising is hardly worth the effort. Despite dis- 
abilities of climate, language, and danger of 
disease, I marketed cigarettes on this principle. 
If I had it to do over again, I would do it the 
same way, because I know it paid. Anyone who 
undertakes this sort of merchandising, how- 
ever, needs cheerful diversion. I always kept a 
book of humorous stories to read when I was 
tired out. They refreshed me and helped me to 
start out the next day ready to talk business 
again. 

It seems to me that China did not know or 
care very much about the outside world previ- 
ous to the Chinese-Japanese War of 1894. She 
had convinced herself that she was one of the 

[318 ] 


CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS 


most powerful nations on earth, so the war took 
her by surprise. A Chinese transport going 
from Korea to Chefoo with three thousand offi- 
cers and men aboard was met by a Japanese 
warship, which ordered them to stop. After 
firing a shot across the bow of the transport, 
some of the Japanese officers went onto the 
Chinese vessel. The officers in command of the 
Chinese vessel made it plain to the Japanese that 
it would never do for a small country like Japan 
to give orders to a great power like China. The 
Japanese officers retired, and the Chinese trans- 
port proceeded. When she disregarded the sec- 
ond warning from the Japanese gunboat, the 
Japanese used their torpedoes and destroyed 
her. The Chinese had not until then realized 
that their neighbor, Japan, had become a naval 
power. 

In 1915 several of my Japanese friends told 
me that they expected to see Germany win the 
World War. The feeling must have been gen- 
eral in Japan, for at that time the Japanese 
confiscated the port of Tsing Tao and the Ger- 
man railroad in Shantung Province and made 

[ 319] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


twenty-one demands upon China for the protec- 
tion of Japanese interests in Shantung Province 
and Manchuria. Japan draws a considerable 
amount of her food stuffs from this region and 
no doubt felt justified in protecting the source 
of these supplies. Much has been written about 
these famous twenty-one demands. The way in 
which they were made incensed the Chinese 
very much. They still feel their resentment 
keenly. Public opinion in China has been 
against complying with the demands, although 
Japan has returned to China the railroad and 
the province of Shantung. 

It would be a most difficult task to enforce 
all of the treaties in effect at the present moment 
between China and the powers. I doubt whether 
it could be done at all, as public opinion in China 
is so strongly against them. As they stand 
to-day, then, they are of little value. I believe, 
however, that China would like to live up to her 
treaty obligations, but that she is powerless to 
do so. In 1897 Japan made treaties with the 
Great Powers by which she received tariff au- 
tonomy and abolished extra-territoriality. She. 

[ 320 ] 


CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS 


took over the foreign settlements and munici- 
palities in Japan which had formerly been under 
the control of aliens. The Chinese would like 
to do the same. 

One of the international features of Shang- 
hai is the Mixed Court. This court is presided 
over by a Chinese judge, assisted by various 
foreign judges. On certain days court is held 
before the Chinese judge and a British magis- 
trate, when cases between Britishers and Chi- 
nese are heard. On other days cases between 
Americans and Chinese are brought up, when 
an associate representing Americans sits with 
the presiding judge, and so on for the different 
nationalities. There was very little friction in 
this Mixed Court until the Chinese Revolution 
of 1911, when there was a year’s division of 
authority between the former imperial govern- 
ment and the new republican régime. The 
Mixed Court got out of hand. The foreigners 
who carried on its work made some minor 
changes, which the Chinese did not like. The ex- 
tent of these changes was magnified, and fresh 
feeling against extra-territoriality in China re- 

[321 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


sulted. The powers refused to abolish extra- 
territoriality, because no new rules and regula- 
tions were set up by the Chinese for conducting 
the Mixed Court. The matter was debated and 
written about until it all seemed quite involved. 
One could not blame either the Chinese or the 
foreigners for the position each took. The dis- 
cussion, however, has given rise to efforts on 
the part of the Chinese to codify their laws. 
They have made great progress in this respect 
and look forward to gaining their point. The 
Chinese Bar Association was formed, law 
schools were established, and the necessary 
preparations are being made for China’s taking 
over all courts in her country. 

There are twenty-one provinces in China. If 
it were necessary to establish a court in each of 
these provinces, China could not at the present 
moment provide twenty-one judges and the nec- 
essary court officials for organizing these courts 
and conducting them with dignity. The Chi- 
nese might begin by setting up courts in Shang- 
hai, Tientsin, Harbin, Hankow, and Canton; 
courts that would command the respect not only 

[ 322] 


CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS 


of the Chinese, but of the foreigners as well. 
Both Chinese and foreign lawyers should be 
allowed to practice in these courts provided they 
are well qualified and in good standing. All 
cases involving both Chinese and foreigners 
could be tried by a Chinese judge, with appeal 
to the Supreme Court of China which sits in 
Peking. Such an arrangement ought to satisfy 
both parties and would give China time to get 
her other courts thoroughly organized and her 
law libraries built up. 

Like other countries bordering on the Pacific, 
Japan is much concerned with what goes on in 
the East. I am glad to say that America and 
Japan have always managed to conduct their 
affairs in the Pacific on a friendly basis. 
America is the largest customer Japan has, and 
from the day that Japan was opened to foreign 
intercourse she has been on friendly terms with 
the United States. At times, one hears a great 
deal of talk about the United States and Japan 
coming to blows in the Pacific. I have never 
taken this seriously. In the first place, Japan 
does not have enough minerals to wage war 

[ 323 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


against the United States. Modern war is im- 
possible without a plentiful supply of coal and 
iron. In the second place, I believe that Japan 
is faithfully trying to keep peace in the Pacific. 
Of course she has had a war with China and 
one with Russia, but I have thought that these 
wars were largely defensive on Japan’s part. 
Naturally she will take steps to protect herself 
against aggression in the Pacific. 

At the time that Russia extended her influ- 
ence into Korea, which is the back door of 
Japan, Russia was a very powerful nation. 
China, hoping to get political support from Rus- 
sia, lined up with Russia, so Japan went to war 
with China. In the peace treaty the island of 
Formosa was ceded to Japan. Japan felt that 
Russia had prevented her from getting a better 
settlement, which ultimately caused war between 
Russia and Japan in 1904. Japan was not satis- 
fied with the outcome of this war either, which 
left a bad taste in her mouth. 

As I see it, Russian policy in the Far East is 
still about what it was in 1897. However, Rus- 
sia has changed considerably since that time. 

[ 324 ] 


CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS 


The present government will have to gain the 
confidence of the peoples of the world before it 
can function successfully. If Russia again 
undertakes to extend her influence into China, 
Japan will undoubtedly resent her doing so, and 
there may be trouble. In this event, I believe 
that public opinion in America will side with 
Japan, as it did during the Russo-Japanese 
War. It is also probable that British influence 
will support Japan in a clash with Russia. 
Japan’s loss of life and property in the earth- 
quake of 1923 was a severe blow, but the rapid- 
ity of her recovery has been marvelous. Imme- 
diately after the catastrophe she set to work 
repairing the damage. The cities most affected 
have been rebuilt, and the financial situation of 
the country is back to normal. Japan has ac- 
complished a great deal in the past fifty years. 
She has a stable government and has educated 
her people, making it possible to give the fran- 
chise to ten million people. Moreover, she has 
become a first class power in the family of 
nations. 
_ As I have said before, I believe that Japan 
[ 325 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


wants to live at peace with her neighbors in the 
Pacific. With a spirit of codperation between 
the countries bordering the Pacific there is room 
for all of them. There is no reason why, so 
far as I can see, there should not be free ex- 
change of commodities and general trade from 
which all of these countries would benefit. 
Japan has merchant ships plying between the 
Far East and America, which give good pass- 
enger and freight service. As time goes on it 
will be possible to cross from Japan to the 
American coast in ten or twelve days, thereby 
enabling Japan to render still more valuable 
service and assistance in the Pacific. I have 
made that voyage several times on Japanese 
steamers and have always been treated most 
courteously. 

If Japan or any other power in the Pacific 
makes something we need, we should arrange to 
buy it at a reasonable price and sell our com- 
modities to them or other foreign countries at 
reasonable prices likewise. There is an old say- 
ing: “Competition is the life of trade.” This 
is true, but my idea of competition is to go out 

[ 326 ] 


CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS 


daily to do my utmost to get business, and then 
meet my competitor in the evening in a friendly 
manner and laugh over the competition. If 
my competitor won out in a certain deal, it was 
never my way to become angry with him. I 
put this construction on the matter; he must 
be a better trader than I was, consequently 
entitled to his reward. 

Russia has a wonderful country in eastern 
Siberia. If it is to be developed in our time 
she will have to draw on Chinese labor. Riding 
through southern Siberia in the spring of the 
year is like riding through a gentleman’s park. 
The country is full of wild flowers. Milk and 
honey can be bought at almost any station for a 
nominal price. The Danes taught the Russians 
dairying. Siberia now exports many millions 
of pounds of butter every year to Europe. The 
climate of Siberia makes it a difficult country 
in which to live. Things grow only during 
about four or four and a half months, during 
which time Chinese laborers emigrate into Si- 
beria. But they return to China for the winter. 
The district around the mouth of the Amur 

[ 327 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT q 


River needs to be developed on the Russian side. 
China, having available labor, has already de- 
veloped her side. 

Great changes are taking place in Manchuria, 
Mongolia, and Kerin Provinces, usually re- 
ferred to as the three eastern provinces of 
China. At present the population of these 
provinces is about twenty-two million. It is 
estimated that the Chinese population here will 
increase in the next twenty years to about sev- 
enty million people, which is about the popula- 
tion of Japan to-day. Immigration from the 
more thickly populated places in China is headed 
in the direction of the sparsely populated three 


eastern provinces. In China it is not: “Go 


West, young man!” but rather: “Young man, 
go to the eastern provinces.” The increased 
cultivation of land here is going to assure a 
more plentiful food supply for China. More- 
over, these Chinese pioneers are likely to play 
a big part in China’s future. Their labor in 
the new home will bring them satisfactory re- 
turns, and they will develop the country and 
establish a government untrammeled by old 
[ 328 ] 


ee EE ee Ve. — ee 


Se ee ee ee eS ee ee eS 


CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS 


customs and one which really represents their 
needs. 

There has been objection on the part of 
Russia and Japan to China building a railroad 
through the three eastern provinces paralleling 
the Chinese Eastern Railroad and the South 
Manchuria Railroad, which are. chiefly con- 
trolled by the former countries. There is no 
doubt but that the vast territory included in 
these provinces could support an additional rail- 
road, and as the country is cultivated more and 
more it should be a very profitable venture. 
But, as the population of these districts is 
ninety-five per cent. Chinese, they should be 
assured that the operation of such a railroad 
would not in any way affect the integrity of 
China. Russia and Japan owe this to their 
neighbor, China. The Chinese love their coun- 
try, as the Russians and Japanese love theirs. 
If the Chinese were to ask the Soviet govern- 
ment in Russia for a franchise to build a rail- 
road through Russian territory, I do not believe 
it would be granted. 

My experience is that the Chinese deal fairly, 

[ 329 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


but the Chinese Eastern Railroad is a sore point 
with them. I cannot see that there is any evi- 
dence of assimilation between the Chinese in 
the three eastern provinces and the Russians or 


Japanese, and I believe that there never will be’ 


any. Russia and Japan cannot expect to colo- 
nize that part of China, because their people 
are not physically able to cultivate that country, 
which is extremely productive and could sup- 
ply grain enough for the entire world. It seems 
to me that the Russian Government ought to 
come to an understanding with China and Japan 
and sell back to China the Russian interest in 
the road. When the Chinese Eastern Railroad 
was built, conditions were entirely different 
from what they are to-day. Now China should 
build her own railroads in the three eastern 
provinces, affording herself, Russia, and Japan 
equitable trading grounds. 

The Nationalist Movement headed by young 
China is changing the entire country. I confi- 
dently look forward to the stabilizing of China’s 
government. Despite the political chaos of the 
past three years, China’s trade has increased. 

[ 330 ] 


=—— 


CONDITIONS ‘AND PROBLEMS 


The civil wars cannot last much longer. Being 
a peaceful people, the Chinese are getting tired 
of war. The untold suffering inflicted upon the 
country by the war lords has reached a point 
where the people are turning toward new lead- 
ership. Young China will establish a govern- 
ment more acceptable to the majority of the 
Chinese and to the world at large. The war 
lords will have to use their energies in the arts 
of peace. 

The people of the United States should con- 
tinue to foster friendly relations with China, 
for I believe that country is going to make more 
progress in the next twenty-five years than 
Russia or Japan has made in the past twenty- 
five. I trust that this book may help in some 
way to impress upon those who read it, the great 
importance of the future peace of the Pacific. 
It behooves all nations to cooperate toward this 
end. We cannot look to the old diplomacy for 
guidance. A new order is required, an order 
based on a more practical diplomacy than has 
heretofore existed. All documents involved 
should be phrased in simple language so that 

[ 331 ] 


A PIONEER TOBACCO MERCHANT 


the people of China can understand them. They 
should be printed in Chinese and distributed 
throughout the country. 

In dealing with the reconstruction of a nation, 
or any big questions in fact, I believe that better 
results are obtained if the chief participants tell 
what is being done. If someone else tells the 
story, it frequently gives rise to a misunder- 
standing. Facts are so distorted that the people 
imagine they are not being treated fairly. China 
to-day seems hopelessly divided, but I believe 
the Chinese would rise to a man should any out- 
sider threaten the integrity of their country. 


[ 332 ] 


INDEX 


Adam’s Peak, 256 

Advertising, plug tobacco, 
11 ff.; cigarettes, 78; reg- 
ulation of, 161 

Agra, 245 

Alfalfa, introduced 
China, 45 

Allen, Mr. George G., 309 f. 

American Tobacco Com- 
pany, 9, 24, 37, 59, 284 

Amsterdam, 302 

Anhwei Province, 225 f. 

Antung, 207 

Apia, 249 ff. 

Automobiles, 
China, 93 f. 


into 


brought to 


Bangkok, 227 ff. 

Bankruptcy, disgrace of, 
110 

Banks, Chinese, 122 ff. 

Beggars in China, 154 ff. 

Beggars Guild, 155 ff. 

Beitzenborg, 255 

Benares, 245 

Bengal, 244 f. 

Berlin, 299 ff. 

Bhamo, 236 

Bombay, 242 

Borneo, 254 

Boxer Rebellion, 40, 282 

British American Tobacco 
Company, organization of, 
59 ff.; business methods 
of, 79 ff.; recruiting em- 
ployees, 85 ff. 


Bryan, W. J., 47 

Bubonic Plague, 246 

Bull Durham tobacco, 275 
ff., 283 ff. 

Burma, 235 ff. 


Caliapore, naval vessel, 251 

California, 8 ff. 

Cape Town, 100 

Cave Temple, 192 ff. 

Cawnpore, 245 

Cedarcrantz, Mr., 249 

Celebes, 254 

Censorship in 
Army, 292 ff. 

Central China Famine Re- 
lief Committee, 166 

Ceylon, 256 ff. 

Changmai, 228 

Chefoo, 207, 319 

Chekiang Province, 315 

Chentow, 126 

Chilli Province, 167 

China, size and population, 
25; tobacco factories in, 
42; growth of tobacco in, 
43; loan to, 47; revenues 
of, 48; training labor in, 
50; merchants in, 107 ff.; 
social clubs in, 113; rail- 
roads in, 117 ff.; banking 
in, 122 ff.; use of ma- 
chinery in, 128 ff.; social 
customs in, 131 ff.; edu- 
cation in, 131 ff.; lan- 
guage in, 132; silk pro- 


Japanese 


[ 333 ] 


INDEX 


duction in, 142; missiona- 
ries in, 143 ff.; foreign 
property in, 145; Ameri- 
can influence in, 147; 
beggars in, 154 ff.; postal 
service in, 162f.; com- 
munication with Russia, 
190 f.; peanuts and sweet 
potatoes in, 195 ff.; cities 
and towns in, 207 ff.; ex- 
tra-territoriality in, 208 f. ; 
conditions and problems 
roaly ol Oye 

Chinese-American Bank of 
Commerce, 126 ff. 

Chinese business methods. 
107 ff. 

Chinese characters, 169 ff. 

Chinese cities and towns, 
207 ff. 

Chinese Eastern Railroad, 
329 £. 

Chinese Famine Relief Com- 
mittee, 167 

Chinese into English, 148 

Chinese language, 132 ff. 

Chinese rugs, 141 

Chinese University at Nan- 
king, 131 

Chinkiang, 207 

Chinwangtao, 118 

Chungking, consul at, 101; 
treaty port, 121 

Cigarettes, at Centennial, 7; 
made in Durham, 8; prob- 
lem of sale in China, 
32 ff.; manufactured in 
China, 41 ff.; volume of 


Eastern sale, 42; selling 
in Orient, 64 ff.; in Ko- 
rea, 71; introduction of, 
78; transportation by 
camel, 186; introduction 
of to Siamju227a0-ean 
Shan States, 237; in In- 
dia, 238 ff. 

Cities and towns, Chinese, 
207 ff. 


Clubs, problem of in China, 


113 
Cobbs, Thomas Flournoy, 
87 ff., 102 


Colombo, Ceylon, 257 ff. 

Commercial Cable laid, 146 

Conditions and problems in 
Orient, 311 ff. 

Confucianism in China, 136 

Continental Tobacco Com- 
pany, 9 

Cotton, early manufacture 
of in China, 128 f£.; manu- 
facture of, 316 f. 

Credit, in China, 125 ff. 


Darjeeling, 241 


Delhi, 245 
Dewey, Admiral George, 
282 £. 


Dragon, Festival, 109 

Duke, Angier B., 272 

Duke, Benjamin N., 39, 57, 
270, 272 ff. 

Duke, James B., impression 
on author, 34 ff.; as a to- 
bacco merchant, 38 ff.; 
manner of, 39; interest in 


[ 334] 


INDEX 


tobacco planters, 40; and 
growth of tobacco in 
China, 44; and Chinese 
revenues, 47 ff.; methods 
of, 53 ff.; essay on, 56; 
contributes to foreign re- 
lief, 57; organizes Brit- 
ish-American Tobacco 
Company, 59; advises 
author, 269f.; develops 
water power, 287 

Duke, Washington, 4, 57 

Dutch East Indies, 254 ff. 


Eastern Provinces, 328 f. 

Eastman’s National Busi- 
ness College, 6 

Education, former type in 
China, 131 ff.; need of in 
China, 140 ff. 

Egan, Mrs. Martin, 167 

Elephants, use of in Siam, 
227 ff.; white, 231; in 
Burma, 235 

Empress of China, disap- 
proves railroads, 118 

Eufort, 297 

Extra-territoriality,  ques- 
tion of in China, 208 ff., 
321 


Famine, relief of, 163 ff. 

Federal Reserve Banking 
Act, 124 

Flood relief, 163 ff. 

Flowers, John M., 272 

Foreigners in China, 139 f. 

Foreign property in China, 
145 


Formosa, 324 

Francis Ferdinand, Arch- 
duke, 295 

Funston, General Frederick, 
285 £. A 

Fu Shien Dien, 214 ff. 


Germany and Samoa, 249 ff. 

Gobi Desert, telegraph 
through, 182 ff. ; transpor- 
tation across, 188 ff. 

Grant, murdered Briton, 
183 ff. 

Grant, U. S., 194, 202, 204 

Graves, Bishop, 163 f. 

Grey, Sir George, 238 


Halle, 299 
Hangchow, 218 

Hankow, 121, 126, 207 
Harbin, 126, 214 
Hayward, Captain, 250 
Henson, Howland, 4 
Hillsboro, N. C., 3 
Himalaya Mountains, 256 
Holidays, in China, 108 
Hong Kong, 257 ff. 
Hongku, 207 

Honolulu, 252 

Hookahs, 246 

Hwai River, flood of, 163 
Hwang Ho River, 118 


India, visited by author, 
237 ff.; British rule in, 
239; coins in, 240; cli- 
mate in, 241; business 
customs in, 241 ff.; for- 


[ 335 ] 


INDEX 


ests in, 246; temples of, 
245; plague in, 246 
Indigo, 278 
Islands and Incidents, 249 ff. 


Japan, and loan to China, 
47; objects to duties on 
tobacco, 49; introduction 
of pound cake in, 274; 
and World War, 319 ff.; 
and China, 320 ff.; and 
United States 323 f.; and 
Russia, 324 f.; earthquake 
in, 325 


Java, 254 

Jim, Chinese interpreter, 
169 ff. 

Johannesburg, 99 f. 

Jute, 244 


Kalgan, 76, 183, 185, 187, 
189 

Kandy, 256 

Kansu Province, isolation 
of, 76; growth of licorice 
in, 76 

Kerin, 328 f. 

Kiangsu Province, 219, 224 

Kinkiang, 207 

Kipling, Rudyard, 235 

Kissingen, 295 ff. 

Kong, Chinese bed, 173 

Korea, visited by author, 69 


Labor, training of, 50 
Lanchowfu, 76 
Lawsonville, N. C., 3, 4, 5 
Leary, Captain, 252 f. 


Lebsic, naval vessel, 251 

Leningrad, 295 

Liang Shih Yi, 167 

Licorice, grown in China, 
76 £. 

Liggett and Myers Tobacco 
Company, 9 

Li Hung Chang, 225 f. 

Lincoln, Abraham, 194 

Loan to China, 46 f. 

Locomotives, sale in China, 
200 

Lucknow, 245 

Luna, General, 286 


Machinery, use of in China, 
128 ff. 

Magistrates in rural China, 
158 


Malabar Hill, 242 


Malay, 232 ff. 

Manchuria, robbers in, 175; 
emigration to, 215; 328 f. 

Manila, 261 

Manila Bay, battle of, 283 

Mariposa, ship, 250 ff. 

Marriage customs in China, 
150 ff. 

McKinley, 
liam, 229 

Merchants in China, 107 ff. 

Midway Islands, 288 

Missionaries, relief of, 
71 £.; work of in China, 
143 ff.; in Siam, 229 

Mixed Court at Shanghai, 
EVAR 

Mololos, 285 


President Wil- 


[ 336 ] 


INDEX 


Mongolia, emigration to, 
Piss S28 f. 

Mongolians, 190 ff. 

Motley, Wright and Com- 
pany, 9 


Nanking, 224; university at, 
131 

Napaul, 277 

Nationalist Movement in 
China, 330 f. 

Newchang, 207, 292 f. 

Newsboys in Australia, 279 

New Year in China, 108 f. 

Nuwara Eliya, 256 


Oberhof, 298 


Parsees, 242 

Peanuts, in China, 195 ff. 

Peking, bank in, 126; west 
gate of, 191 

Perry, Admiral, 274 

Postal system in China, 163 

Potsdam, 299 

Pound cake, in Japan, 274 

Powers, loan of to China, 46 


Queenstown, 263 


Railroads, accounting for in 


China, 177 f.; introduc- 
tion into China, 118; 
profitable investments, 
119 


Ramie (rhea), used in Ko- 
rea, 70; growth of, 75 
Rangoon, 236, 239 


Reidsville, N. C., 5 

Religion in China, 136 

Robbers in China, 172 ff. 

Roosevelt, Theodore, ap- 
points consul, 101; known 
in China, 194; inaugura- 
tion of, 272 f. 

Rugs, Chinese, 141 

Russo-Japanese War, inci- 
dent in, 170 fi.; 286 ff. 


Salt, packing for retail, 29 

Samoan Islands, 249 ff. 

Santiago, battle of, 282 

Saratoga Springs, 269 

Saturday Evening Post, 167 

Schools built in Shantung, 
66 ff. 

Sewing machine, thread for, 
30 ff. 

Shanghai, automobiles 
brought to, 94; railroad 
from, 118; bank in, 126; 
concessions in, 207 ff.; 
Mixed Court at, 321 f. 

Shansi bankers, 122 ff. 

Shan States, 236 

Shantung problem, 319 ff. 

Shantung Province, school 
built in, 66 ff.; famine in, 


166; immigration from, 
215 
Siam, 227 ff. 


Sianfu, 71 f. 

Siberia, 327 f. 

Silk production in China, 
142 

Singapore, 258 


(337) 


INDEX 


Slang in China, 134 ff. 
Social customs in China, 
131 ff. 


Soochow, 223 f. 
South Manchuria Railroad, 
329 f. 


Spanish American War, 
282 ff. 

Steel manufacturing in 
China, 114 

Stevenson, Robert Louis, 
249 £. 

St. Petersburg. See Lenin- 
grad 


Street sprinkling in China, 
129 

Suguri, 277 

Sumatra, 254 

Sun Yat Sen, 201 ff. 

Sweet potatoes in China, 
195 ff. 

Szechwan Province, _ re- 
sources of, 73 ff.; need of 
railroads in, 122 


Tahku Lake, 219 

Tai Yuan Fu, 72 

Taj Mahal, 245 

Taoism in China, 136 

Tasmania, 256 

Teakwood, 228 f. 

Tein, Mr., 66 f. 

Tibet, 276 

Tientsin, railroad to, 118; 
bank in, 126; treaty port, 
207; wall razed, 213 f. 

Thomas, Cornelia Jones, 3 

Thomas, Henry Evans, 3 


Thomas, James A., birth of, 
5; early life of, 5 ff; visits 
Centennial, 7; travels 
abroad, 8; to California, 
8 ff.; in Australia and 
New Zealand, 9; with 
Liggett and Myers, 9; 
sent to the East, 23 f.; his 
problem in China, 25 ff.; 
early theories of merchan- 
dising, 29 ff.; calls on J. 
B. Duke, 35, 38; returns 
to East, 36; builds fac- 
tories in China, 41 ff.; 
and organization of the 
British-American Tobacco 
Company, 59 ff.; assists in 
building school, 66 ff.; in 
Korea, 69; helps relieve 
missionaries, 71; in Cal- 
cutta, 83 ff.; at Christmas 
dinner, 91 ff.; organizes 
Chinese American Bank 
of Commerce, 126 f.; as- 
sists in famine relief, 163 
ff.; member Chinese Red 
Cross, 166; order of Gol- 
den Harvest, 184; re- 
ceived by Chinese Pre- 
mier, 198 ff.; meets Sun 
Yat Sen, 201; visits Yuan 
Shih Kai 202 ff.; in Siam, 
227 ff.; in Malay, 232 ff.; 
in Burma, 235; father 
dies, 236; in India, 237 
ff.; visits Samoan Islands, 
249 ff.; in Dutch East In- 
dies, 254 ff.; experience 


[ 338 ] 


—S 


INDEX 


with crook, 257 ff.; has 
malaria, 208 ff.; attends 
inauguration, 272 f.; en- 
tertains newsboys, 279 ff. ; 
in war times, 282 ff.; in 
Russia, 294; in Germany, 
295 ff. 

Thomas, James A., uncle of 
author, 4 

Thomas, John Wesley, 3 

Tobacco, early sale of, 3 f.; 
marketing of plug, 11 ff.; 
early use in China, 26; 
grown in China, 43 ff. 

Tower of Silence, 242 

Travel to East, increase of, 
146 ff. 

Trinity College, mentioned, 
4 

Tsinan, bank in, 126 

Tsingtao, 46, 294 

Tsushima Straits, 289 

Turkey Cock Creek, 87 

Tutuila Straits, 250 

Typhoon at Samoa, 250 


United States, concessions 
in China, 207 ff. 
Urga, 182, 185, 188 f. 


Vancouver, 261 

Vandalia, naval vessel, 251 

Victoria, queen of England, 
256 

Walled towns, conditions 

in, 213 ff. 


Wars and Rumors of Wars, 
282 ff. 

Warsaw, 295 

Washington, D. C., 6 

Washington, George, 194 

W. Duke Sons and Com- 
pany, 8 

Wedding of employees, 103 
ff. 

Women, changing dress of 
in China, 149 f, 

Women’s dress in China, 
149 

Woosung, 118 

World War, the, and China, 
133 ff.; 294 ff. 

Wormer, Mr. Leo F., 297 f£. 

Wuhu, 225 

Wushi, 219 ff. 

Wu Ting Fang, 163 f. 

Wylie, Dr. W. Gill, 270 ff., 
287 


Yangtse River, 74 f., 121 
Yellow River, 74 f. 
Yokohama, 274, 289 
Younghusband, General, 276 
Young Men’s Christian As- 
sociation in China, 144 
Young Women’s Christian 
Association in China, 144, 
149 
Yuan Shih Kai, 202 ff. 
Yunan Province, 237 


Zanzibar, consul in, 101 f. 


[ 339 ] 


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